Clarke Central High School English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) department teacher Kathy Erickson shows her Centegix safety badge on Oct. 1. CCHS teachers were assigned safety badges to alert administrators and security personnel of emergencies on campus. “We’re all here, we’re all geared up,” Erickson said. “We’re walking security help.” Photo by Natalie Schliekelman
New security badges at CCHS allow teachers to easily and quickly alert administrators to issues that need their attention within the school.
In past years, if Clarke Central High School teachers needed to alert administrators of an issue within the school, they had to press the call button located in their classroom. Now, with new Centegix safety badges, teachers carry a portable alert system around their necks.
“With (the security badges), if a teacher presses it and we get the alert on our phone, we know exactly (what classroom they’re in), and everybody is alerted and everybody comes at once,” Assistant principal Summer Smith said.
For teachers like English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) department teacher Kathy Erickson, the badges expedite the process to reach response personnel in case of emergency.
“(Previously) if there were an altercation, if I saw a rumble in the hallway like a fight or something, normally I would probably call the office or call, you know, have Ms. Glenn call security,” Erickson said. “(Now) we can press a button and have them come to us. There’s different features on the card that we can hit to have security come for us to help us, or administration.”
According to Clarke County School District Safety and Energy Coordinator Patrick Dyer, the badges allow teachers to connect with administrators and share their exact location quickly.
“The badge will work on any campus where we currently have students. If you’re at the District services building, or transportation, it’s not gonna work because there aren’t any students based there. But every other facility, it will work,” Dyer said. “It will notify school safety team members of your location on campus in an emergency if used properly.”
To freshman Levyn Sandifer, reaching security quickly is important for stopping violence before it escalates.
“Conflicts don’t happen every single day, but if they do happen, they can get worse than they already are, which is why ending it quickly is efficient (and) it’s better,” Sandifer said. “I think communicating with security does make it easier (to stop fights).”
“(The security badge) allows the teachers to be connected if they need help, instantly. It serves a good purpose.”
— Dr. Linda Boza,
CCHS Associate Principal
Smith believes that the easy connection the security badges provide makes the school a safer place.
“A lot of people were worried that they would accidentally set it off, but we haven’t had too much of (a problem) with that. It allows the teachers to be connected if they need help, instantly. It serves a good purpose,” Smith said.
*Correction: Nov. 9, 2021
An earlier version of this article misstated the GPS capability of the security badges. Centigex safety badges allow teachers to alert administrators or security to their exact location in the school.
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