(The Center Square) – Illinois may join a growing number of states that would equip public schools with silent panic alarms in case of an emergency.
New Jersey was the first state to pass what is being called Alyssa’s Law in 2020. Six other states followed suit and 13 more are considering similar legislation. Alyssa’s Law is named after Alyssa Alhadeff, who was killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
“It ensures that schools have mobile panic alert systems allowing staff to instantly notify law enforcement when every second counts,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville.
Yang Rohr didn’t provide any cost estimates, but a school district in Florida recently approved a five-year, $3.8 million contract with a company that makes wearable panic buttons.
“What we’re talking about today does cost money but at the end of the day, I think all of us as parents are all about student safety,” said state Rep. Will Davis, D-Hazel Crest. “In fact we should be doing everything possible to make sure that our children are safe.”
The law would require, for the 2026 fiscal year, the State Board of Education to issue a competitive solicitation to contract for a mobile panic alert system that may be used by each school district.
While the legislation has gained momentum at the state level, attempts to make it a federal law have been unsuccessful.
“Even as we send our children to school every single day, there are moments when we have to confront the reality and think the unthinkable, asking ourselves if and hoping that our children will come home from school safe,” said Yang Rohr.
