FLORIDA, USA — Florida students could see panic alert systems in their schools as soon as next year.
Alyssa's Law, named for Alyssa Alhadeff, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student who was killed in the February 2018 Parkland shooting, would require each public school to implement a mobile panic alert system.
The bill would put the mobile alert systems in public schools starting in the 2021-2022 school year connecting schools with emergency services in real-time as an "Alyssa Alert".
The bill passed the Florida Senate 40-0. The House has a similar bill that was set to be heard Friday but has since been temporarily postponed.
While the two bills are similar, they do differ when it comes to funding.
The House bill lists an $8 million contract, but under this version, the alert system "must be certified by the United States Department of Homeland Security under the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002."
While the Senate bill does not specify a dollar amount, it notes that the Florida Department of Education must work with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Division of Emergency Management.
The University of South Florida installed panic alarms on campus back in 2017.
A similar bill has already passed in New Jersey. You can learn more about Alyssa's law here.
RELATED: Tampa Bay school districts not waiting for lawmakers to implement 'panic button' alert systems
- Roaches and a side of grits: Here's why this local joint is our Restaurant Red Alert
- North Carolina woman goes to jail for 100th birthday
- Teen playing with chemical ends up completely burned
- SpaceX to launch Dragon 1 capsule in final mission to space station
- Facts Not Fear | What you need to know about the COVID-19 outbreak
- Latest updates: Coronavirus in Florida
- Space engineer builds working rotary dial cellphone, and you can, too
FREE 10NEWS APP:
