New integrated system gives Davidson High enhanced security
The new cutting-edge and first-of-its kind
Technology Integrated Security System (TISS) is now up and running at Davidson
High School.
Engineered and built through a collaboration
between the City of Mobile and Mobile County Public Schools, TISS integrates
access control, a color-coded lighting system for emergencies such as a
lockdown or fire, and several notification systems, including push
notifications to computers, digital signage and an intercom. The central panel
also gives automatic notification to law enforcement agencies when appropriate.
The City of Mobile secured a $400,000 federal
COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grant and Mobile County Public
Schools contributed $130,000 in matching funds to install TISS.
“This has been a wonderful collaboration
between the school system and the city that will allow us to better protect our
students and teachers,” said Mobile County Public Schools Superintendent
Chresal Threadgill. “Through this project, we have found a way to integrate
advanced technology and our school safety procedures in such a way that in an
emergency situation, the entire school would be able to react quickly and
appropriately. This is truly a state-of-the-art security system that will allow
us to keep our children safe, and I am proud of the work that our IT
Department, our Security Department, and the City of Mobile have been able to
do here.”
James Barber, Public Safety Director for the
City of Mobile, said the City of Mobile is grateful to have been awarded the
COPS Office STOP School Violence Grant to install this security system at
Davidson High School.
“We believe this extra layer of protection
gives parents the assurance that their kids are safe at school. In the event of
a threat or in-progress incident that compromises safety, response can be
activated with the push of one button,” Barber said. “The new security system
even provides first responders knowledge of any developing situation prior to
arriving on the scene.”
Davidson began using TISS earlier this month.
Students and staff have been trained on how to use and respond to the system.
For example, if a tornado warning were to be issued, blue lights would
illuminate throughout the halls and classrooms; digital signs throughout the
school would notify students and staff that a tornado warning was in
effect; and an automated message would play over the intercom. Students and
staff would seek shelter in interior hallways and other specified safe
locations as they have practiced in drills.
“This system will bring all of it together,”
said David K. Akridge, Executive Director of Information Technology for Mobile
County Public Schools. “For example, if there was a situation in a hall or
happening just outside the school, the principal could initiate with the touch
of a switch a series of events that would trigger lights, trigger door locks
and trigger intercom announcements.”
MCPSS Director of Security Andy Gatewood
said, “This is cutting edge. I do not know of another school system anywhere
that has anything like this. There are so many capabilities with this program.
A principal can notify first responders, restrict access and alert students to
a threat, all with the push of a button.”
The Technology Integrated Security System
(TISS) joins other Mobile County Public Schools programs designed to keep
students safe. MCPSS was the first school system in Alabama to be certified by
the ALICE Training Institute for implementing safety strategies that go beyond
the conventional lockdown. The school system employs resource officers, all
with former law enforcement and/or military experience, who are in the schools
daily getting to know students and who can assist and investigate discipline
issues. The district utilizes the RAPTOR system, requiring visitors to scan
their driver’s license for background information. Officials conduct
random canine searches. And MCPSS works with the City of Mobile, law
enforcement and community agencies to identify potential obstacles or issues
students face that may interfere with their academic success.
