Azle ISD PD demos lockdown drill at board meeting

AZLE — During an Oct. 21 Azle ISD board of trustees meeting, Azle ISD Police Chief Darren Brockway presented an overview of safety software Centegix and Raptor and demonstrated what staff and students would see during a lockdown drill. Brockway said there are now three things that need to be done during lockdown.

First, Centegix automatically calls 911 and sends a notification to campus staff to inform them of any potential security situation using colors designated by standard response protocol. The standard response protocol used by Azle schools details how personnel should act during any potential emergency and is endorsed as best practice by the Texas School Safety Center. With Centegix, staff members each have their own mobile panic buttons, which can be kept on the back of their school identification cards. Substitute teachers will be assigned one when they’re given keys for their classrooms. Centegix can also be accessed through a phone or computer. Each button can track its user’s exact location and allows them to enter information about which students are accounted for and if anyone is injured. Staff can indicate the severity of the security threat based on the number of times they press the button. Along with an announcement over the intercom system, red lights inside and outside the campus will begin to flash to indicate an emergency.

“That's very important,” Brockway said. “We really harp on the teachers. If you're having recess, please have your cell phones on you for this very reason, because you might have to go to a different location … Campuses have an EOP (emergency operations plan) and where they would take the kids,” Brockway said. For example, at Azle Elementary there's a pedestrian gate that goes back to that Village Garden area. They can account for all their students, go to that location and put their location as the 500 block of Village Garden and that would tell me and other first responders that we got some kids and staff that are staging in a neighborhood somewhere that we know where they are and if they're injured.”

The Raptor system then sends out a secondary notification and will give parents instructions on how to reunite with their students later.

The third step, the red button, is located in the front office area of each school. After notifications are sent out and the button is pressed, any magnetic fire doors will be sealed shut and will disable card readers for everyone but first responders.