FL H0023

Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, each public elementary, middle, and high school campus, including charter schools, must be equipped with a panic alert system ("Alyssa's Alert") for use in life-threatening emergencies, including active assailant situations.

The panic alert system must be activatable anywhere on campus and immediately transmit a signal or message to a public safety answering point, with two-way communication capability between the person initiating the alert and the public safety answering point.

The Department of Education receives an $8 million nonrecurring appropriation from the General Revenue Fund for the 2020-2021 fiscal year to implement the panic alert system statewide.

The Department of Education must issue a competitive solicitation to contract for a panic alert system that can be used by each school district, and the system must be certified by the United States Department of Homeland Security under the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002.

The act takes effect July 1, 2020.