Dale, first to launch Centegix

It is the first school in Oklahoma to implement the Centegix Crisis Alert System. The system does not rely on the internet, but it does provide staff and administration the ability to instantly request help when needed.

Superintendent Will Jones said, “Our first priority is obviously to keep the students and staff safe. And we’ve taken some important steps in that direction by implementing the Centegix Crisis Alert solution throughout the schools, so teachers and staff can now request help with the push of a button on their wearable crisis alert badge.”

“Three clicks of the badge will initiate a staff alert, which is an individualized request for help,” said Technology Director Alex Bonito. “Multiple clicks will initiate a campus-wide lockdown. Our responders, our authorized administrators, can also initiate a campus-wide lockdown from a mobile or desktop app.”

“This solution does not depend on WiFi or on an app to work,” Bonito said. “As a Technology Director, for me, worrying about the network impacting our response time is a big concern. The fact that this is independent of that is a great thing.”

Jones said he came across an article about a school that had implemented the system and soon after had a crisis. The Centegix system was credited for saving lives.

He said within a day or two, Dale School Board President Robin Wiley-Green contacted him after reading the same article. “[We] Googled Centegix and got in contact with them. That’s what got the ball rolling.”

Jones said, "Dale was the second school district in Oklahoma to sign up for the system. But, we’re the first to go live.”

Benito said there are beacon devices in all the buildings, hallways, and classrooms. “They act as strobes and locating devices.” The beacon flashes red for a lockdown. Intercom announcements play through a strategic intercom integration device. In the event of a campus-wide lockdown, all the computers on the campus, as well as staff laptops, will create an alert that takes up the entire screen. It will instruct them on what steps to take at that point. It’s a comprehensive system.”

Elementary teacher Kelcie Badley said, “It works really well.”

Badley said she had a nonemergency situation in her classroom that “was maybe escalating quicker than I thought. So I went ahead and touched my button and held it. They were there faster than I could have imagined.”

“It’s very discreet,” said Badley. “If I would have called, it probably would have escalated the situation in the child knowing that the administrator was coming.”

While demonstrating the alert system, Bonito said, “To trigger a staff alert, you just press the button three times. So [it] immediately activated an alert in our staff office, here in the administration building. You can see who triggered it. You can see where it was triggered, [and] what time. The responders are able to respond to the alert and then close the alert once it’s been handled.”

Jones said he was in the cafeteria, not far from the building Badley’s classroom is in when he received an alert. “I happened to be in the cafeteria, which is very close to her room, but it said room 60. I don’t know where room 60 is, but it said Badley. I knew where Badley’s room was so I was able to respond very quickly.”

Security and Maintenance Director, Brent Vanlandingham said, “It is something that allows us to be able to get those 10 responders immediately notified with just three clicks.”

Vanlandingham said when the alert is for a lockdown, the strobes go off, and push notifications are sent telling staff to begin the lockdown procedures. “But the most important thing … it immediately lets law enforcement know that they need to come here. All of those things happen all by a staff member having the ability to click it eight times.”

“That is huge in a response time,” said Vanlandingham. “That’s the difference between saving lives, is a response time.”

Vanlandingham said parents naturally want to come to the school to pick up their children in a crisis event. “That’s always been a challenge. We will create a way for them to be able to pick up their child. This is probably the safest thing at that point because you’ve got 150 to 200 cops coming. It’s going to be, probably, the safest place in the county at that moment. We will definitely reach out to them and let them know where that location is to pick up their student or students.”

Jones said the Centegix system “does not replace the old procedures. This is just an addition to all the policies and procedures that we had for these emergency situations.”

The system covers all the buildings on campus, including the band and ag buildings. It can also be triggered at the softball and baseball fields.

Centegix also provides a visitor management solution. Every principal office on the Dale campus has the equipment needed for visitors to check in. Visitors will provide their driver’s licenses to be scanned for verification. The system screens for sexual offenses, custody issues, and custom-banned individuals. Upon clearance, the visitor receives a printed visitor label to wear or a Centegix visitor badge.

If a visitor wanders to an area not designated as their visitation site, they can be located and redirected to the correct area.

Jones said the cost to get Centegix up and running was about $40,000. The funds were provided through the School Security Revolving Fund.

House Bill 2903 went into effect in July 2023. It is used to provide physical security enhancements for schools, including, but not limited to, school resource officers, cameras, gates, lighting, locks, doors, windows, security geofencing, and ballistic storm shelters.

Spanish teacher Greta Findley said, “I appreciate that we have it. I know I sometimes walk from building to building, and I have students with me at all times. We’ve had to rely on our cell phones before if we had an emergency, and now all we have to do is just press this [the Centegix badge]. And so, to me, that makes me feel a lot safer, and it makes me know that somebody is there and will be there quickly if I ever need them for any reason.”

Findley said, “Also, as a parent, it just makes me feel more confident that I know that my kids…I know that they’re going to be safe, and somebody’s going to be there immediately if a situation arises.”

Additional information regarding the implementation of the Centegix Crisis Alert System can be viewed by visiting the Countywide & Sun website at countywidenews.com.