SchoolSAFE active-shooter drills show school systems the power of interoperability during a crisis

SchoolSAFE’s marketing partnership with Motorola has helped the Colorado-based company grow its reach to 230 deployments in Colorado, Ohio, Nevada, Oklahoma, Florida, Idaho and Washington school systems.

The heightened interoperability between Pueblo County’s 20 school sites has been of use on numerous occasions since the SchoolSAFE was deployed in the county seven years ago, said Pueblo County Schools Superintendent Ed Smith.

“Now, that we have that system, we’d have a hard time knowing what to do without it,” Smith said. “When we first got it, we all hoped we’d never have to use it. The truth is we use it all the time. We had a lady last week with a gas mask and a long coat come into a school. It was a student, nothing happened, but the system was activated, and law enforcement was there very quickly to sweep the hallways.”

Depending on the number of schools, SchoolSAFE’s hardware, software system and training costs school systems between $25,000-$35,000 per school, Hobby said. Many school systems have relied on grant monies and cost-sharing with their public-safety entities to purchase the radio-communications system.

Grant monies helped Pueblo County Schools acquire the system, and the investment was well worth it, Smith said.

“It is expensive,” Smith said. “If I were approached right now, and told I had to spend $30,000 a school, I’d say ‘Oh, we can’t afford it.’ Now, that we’ve had it, I really can’t see how we could afford to be without it.”