TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – State lawmakers are looking to improve communication between police and schools when there is a threat.
The YaYa Alert would create a statewide alert and protocol system, making sure schools and childcare centers know when a serious threat is in the community.
The legislation, SB 814: Emergency Alerts and HB 715: School and Childcare Facility Emergency Alerts, would establish a system linking schools, law enforcement and child-care facilities to ensure the protection of children when law enforcement has identified an imminent threat in the area.
The proposed system would require schools to be notified if they are within three miles in cases when police haven’t arrested a suspect, a homicide or police determine there’s a credible threat.
The alert system is named after 9-year-old T’yonna “Ya Ya” Major, who was killed along with journalist Dylan Lyons and 38-year-old Natacha Augustin in the February 2023 Pine Hills shootings.
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A Central Florida community-led town hall last year addressed public safety failures in the February 2023 shootings.
“If that alert would’ve been sounded that day, my sister wouldn’t have been able to pick her up; she definitely would not have gone back home. A lot would’ve been done that day and a child’s life would have been saved,” said Angel Brantley, YaYa’s aunt.
State lawmakers are collaborating with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on the implementation details if the bill is passed.
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