JEFFERSON CITY — After more than two years of debate and consideration, ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ officials are poised to spend nearly $2 million to purchase a special mobile phone app designed to serve as a panic button during an active school shooter event.
As part of the state’s budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the Missouri Department of Public Safety has $1.9 million that it can spend on an app that would let teachers and school administrators send a 911 distress call that could reduce response times by police.
Work on putting together bidding documents is underway in Gov. Mike Parson’s Office of Administration.
“We can confirm that DPS is working on the procurement process for the app with the Office of Administration,†said agency spokesman Mike O’Connell.
The push for the app comes as St. Louis school and police officials are receiving high marks for their response to an active shooter Monday at Central and Collegiate high schools. The two schools share a campus in south city.
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The shooter, Orlando Harris, 19, was still able to gain entry to the school and kill a teacher and a student, as well as wound four others in the incident. But rapid response times allowed police to be on the scene and kill Harris within 14 minutes of the first alert going out.
Although lawmakers had hoped to get the app in Missouri schools at the beginning of the fall semester, it could take months to complete the procurement process.
There are companies already making panic buttons apps, including Guard911.
In the Capitol, the company is represented by the lobbying firm of John Bardgett, who has an extensive client list including the St. Louis Cardinals, the automobile dealers association and Anheuser-Busch.
In addition to calling 911, the app also notifies a separate network of first responders that a shooting or armed intrusion has occurred at a specific location, enabling the nearest law enforcement officer to get to the scene as quickly as possible.
The app also notifies other staff members on campus that an emergency situation is underway, giving them additional time to implement the school’s emergency response.
There were other school safety plans that didn’t make it across the finish line during the General Assembly’s most recent legislative session.
Two St. Louis-area Democrats, Reps. and , introduced legislation that would tap money generated by casinos and the state lottery to pay for after-school programs focused on reducing gun violence.
The proposed programs were aimed specifically at schools in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.
Matt Davis, president of the Board of Education for the City of St. Louis, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, discusses the school shooting Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience high schools.
Photos: Hundreds attend vigil for victims, survivors of Monday school shooting
Keisha Acres, center, mother of Alexzandria Bell, 15, embraces Barbara Edmonds, mother of teacher Jean Kuczka, during a vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, outside Central Visual and Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience high schools for the victims and survivors of Monday’s school shooting. Sophomore Bell and health and physical education teacher Kuczka both died in the shooting. At left, Bell’s grandmother, Donna Acres, brushes back her daughter’s hair.
"She was like a baby sister to me," said Kyla Williams, 17, left, a cousin to Alexzandria Bell, 15, who hugs Bell's older sister Katelynn Chatman,19, right, during a vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, at Central Visual & Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience High Schools for the victims and survivors of the school shooting. Sophomore Bell and health and physical education teacher Kuczka both died in the CVPA shooting Monday.
Hundreds of attendees release balloons during a vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, outside Central Visual & Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience High Schools for the victims and survivors of the school shooting.Â
Central Visual & Performing Arts students juniors Alana Locke, 15, left, and Ashley Garcia, 17, comfort each other during a vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, at Central Visual & Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience High Schools for the victims and survivors of the school shooting. Sophomore Alexzandria Bell, 15, and and health and physical education teacher Jean Kuczka both died in the CVPA shooting Monday. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Emmanuel Haynes with Urban Undertakers of St. Louis, releases doves during a vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, at Central Visual & Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience High Schools for the victims and survivors of Monday's school shooting. Sophomore Alexzandria Bell, 16, and health and physical education teacher Jean Kuczka both died in the CVPA shooting.Â
Hundreds of attendees release balloons during a vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, at Central Visual & Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience High Schools for the victims and survivors of the school shooting.Â
"I had to come show my love," said Brianna Shipp, eighth grade history teacher at Carr Lane, lays down a candle during a vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, outside Central Visual and Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience High Schools for the victims and survivors of the school shooting. Shipp said she taught shooting victim Alexzandria Bell, 15, when she was a student at Carr Lane.
