Vestavia Hills school board approves contract for new crisis alert system

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The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Monday night approved a contract for a new crisis alert safety system that is designed to help more quickly notify school staff and public safety officials about emergency situations in schools.

In the event of a medical emergency, a teacher or school staff member will be able to press a button on a card hung around their neck on a lanyard a certain number of times to alert appropriate school staff and, if needed, a 911 operator.

In the event of an intruder or a dangerous situation, school staff members can press the button a different number of times, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.

“If we have to lock down our campuses, we know that on one end of the campus, if there is a situation, the other end of the campus can know that immediately,” Freeman said. “It’s the essence of speeding up the communication took for our teachers and our whole staff.”

The crisis alert system also can identify the location from which the alert is being initiated — down to the classroom — and let other school staff and public safety officials know that exact location immediately.

The safety system also includes a visitor management system that monitors who’s coming in and out of schools and that is designed to ensure that only authorized visitors are allowed on campus. The system allows schools to create custom lists of people banned from campus, monitor custody issues and log student tardiness and early releases, as well as create detailed reports on all activities tracked.

The school board agreed to enter a five-year contract with a company called Centegix and agreed to pay $415,200 over the next five years, including a payment of $136,800 the first year and $69,600 each of the next four years.

The new safety system likely will be installed and become operational in the spring, Freeman said.

“We [already] have some communication strategies that are good,” he said. “We’re just trying to enhance everything we do.”

Safety issues have come up in meetings with faculty several times, he said.

In other business Monday night, the Vestavia Hills school board:

  • Approved a contract with Moore Coal Co. for waste disposal from school campuses for $136,234 a year, renewable for up to five years.
  • Approved a five-year athletic apparel and equipment reward program with BSN Sports and Nike that provides Vestavia Hills City Schools with $100,000 in free products from BSN Sports, $40,000 in free Nike products per year, $25,000 in free BSN Sports products per year for Vestavia Hills High School, $8,000 in free BSN Sports products per year for each of the district’s two middle schools, a 10% rebate on all purchases, 35% off all Nike team apparel, 30% off all Nike footwear and custom uniforms, 15% off BSN Sports products, 15% off BSN Sports catalog branded products, and incentives for winning championships or Coach of the Year awards or spending at least $400,000 with BSN Sports in a given year.
  • Approved a new textbook for the Advanced Placement psychology course.
  • Heard a report about the new science, technology, engineering and math program in each elementary school and results of the spring 2024 Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program math and science test scores. The percentage of students in grades 3-8 who showed proficiency in math increased 2.8 percentage points from the previous year to 70.8%, and the percentage of students in grades 4, 6 and 8 who showed proficiency in science fell 1.2 percentage points to 80.5%. See a more detailed report on Vestavia Hills test scores in a future edition of the Vestavia Voice.