SAN ANTONIO – St. Gregory the Great Catholic School is taking a proactive approach when it comes to student safety by becoming the first school in South Texas to use the Rapid Response Alert System.
The school partnered with BluePoint Alert Solution to implement the security system, which quickly puts critical information in the hands of law enforcement and school staff in the event of an emergency, like an active shooter scenario.
The Rapid Alert Response Alert System includes 13 pull boxes labeled police, which work like a fire alarm and alert authorities of an emergency.
"We also have what we call our command and control, which is our mass notification, our rapid alert portal," said Kelly Leduff of BluePoint Alert Systems.
School leaders also have portable panic buttons to carry with them and teachers have an icon on their computers where they can upload and access information in real time.
"The same number I got the message from, I can send a picture to. I can say, 'Guy with a gun.' I can send video. I can send whatever I want to send," Leduff said.
The system will relay information to the Balcones Heights and San Antonio police departments.
"Then once they're here, rather than taking 13 or more minutes clearing a big campus, they know exactly where to go," said Daniel Martinez, St. Gregory principal .
BluePoint completes and complements other security measures such as door access control, supplementary locks, security cameras and staff training for crisis events.