The halls of Shepard Middle School are calm on a recent Thursday morning: the bell rings, students move from one room to another without a hitch and teachers greet them at the door.<\/p>\n
Safety and ease blanket the campus off Ray Ellison Drive and Old Pearsall Road. But underneath the sea of calm, all staff \u2014 from Principal Ricardo Moreno to the cafeteria ladies \u2014 are primed to act in a moment\u2019s notice in case of emergencies.<\/p>\n
In January, Shepard got brand new silent panic alert technology, or SPAT, a program called CrisisGo that\u2019s downloaded as an app on all staff devices and school computers. The app automatically alerts campus admin and local first responders during a crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be an administrator that alerts. It could be anyone on campus, from a custodian, child nutrition worker to a teacher in the classroom,\u201d said Moreno, who\u2019s been principal at Shepard since the start of the school year.<\/p>\n
South San Antonio Independent School District is piloting the program at Shepard because it\u2019s the nearest campus to the district\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n
Like most public schools, Shepard has many defenses required by Texas in place, like metal fencing, a campus safety officer, locked entryways, bulletproof glass and more. Several of these safety measures became mandates following deadly school shootings in and outside of Texas, most notably the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SouthSanISD_ShepardMiddleSchool_PanicSystem_HeightenedAlertSecurity_StudentCampusSafety_02_04.09.202.jpeg\")
A security video bell and call system for secure check-in is positioned near notices of the school\u2019s sign-out and end-of-day policies at the entrance to South San ISD\u2019s Shepard Middle School. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
But getting all campuses up to safety standards is a years-long feat, as school districts choose which mandates to tackle first based on available funding and bandwidth. <\/p>\n
\u201cOther than educating, parents entrust us with their most precious cargo,\u201d said Moreno. \u201cAnd with that \u2014 that\u2019s a big responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The evolution of SPAT<\/p>\n
SPAT systems are only a piece of the puzzle. Taking different forms, they\u2019ve been required by the Texas Education Agency for several years, but they weren\u2019t cemented into code until 2023 with the passage of Senate Bill 838<\/a>, also known as Alyssas\u2019s Law.<\/p>\n Named after one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting in a Parkland, Florida high school, the law requires Texas schools to place SPAT systems capable of automatically alerting first responders in every classroom by the 2025-26 cycle.<\/p>\n Before the law, most SPAT systems consisted of singular panic button in school front offices. It\u2019s a system that could lead to slow response times, often leaving the responsibility of pushing the button to front office workers and administrators \u2014 a system that also puts their lives on the line.<\/p>\n SPAT systems are much more intricate now.<\/p>\n Apps like CrisisGo allow staff to indicate what kind of emergency is occurring, whether it\u2019s a health crisis, a mental health issue or a campus-wide threat. It also lets administrators and emergency responders know exactly where to go on campus.<\/p>\n Within the first week of implementing the app at Shepard, a teacher used CrisisGo to get an ambulance for a student experiencing a medical seizure.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was able to work the way it was supposed to,\u201d said Moreno. <\/p>\n In fact, most alerts are not for campus safety-related issues. At 911Cellular, another popular SPAT provider in Texas, 98% of alerts are for health-related emergencies, said Heather Connelly, the company\u2019s K12 director. <\/p>\n 911Cellular recently contracted with the School of Science and Technology (SST) charter network, which operates nine campuses in the San Antonio area. <\/p>\n Similar to the pilot program at Shepard, SST is using a software package that includes an app on electronic devices, and an option for staff to use different key stroke combinations on desk phones and school computers. <\/p>\n Connelly, who\u2019s worked closely with legislators and families of school shooting victims across the country, said SPAT systems are different from other school safety measures like fences and locked doors.<\/p>\n SPAT isn\u2019t about prevention, it\u2019s about fast response after the fact. <\/p>\n \u201cThe faster we can get in to triage victims, the more we can save lives,\u201d Connelly said, pointing to Alyssa Alhadeff, the 14-year-old Parkland shooting victim who died after losing too much blood from a gunshot would, inspiring the passage of Alyssa\u2019s Law in several states. \u201cTime equals life.\u201d<\/p>\n While Shepard is the only South San campus using CrisisGo right now, it doesn\u2019t mean other district campuses are unprotected \u2014 the SPAT technology there is simply different, and it also varies from district to district.<\/p>\n Some school districts use wearable panic buttons<\/a>, while others have panic buttons installed in every classroom. But best practices and guidelines often shift, forcing districts to pivot and keep investing in new technology.<\/p>\n Before using the CrisisGo app, Shepard staff wore panic buttons on their lanyards. But using the app is more accessible for all staff, Moreno said.<\/p>\n Last year, Texas lawmakers passed more safety legislation under House Bill 2, requiring \u201ctimely notification to all teaching staff, including aides, who may be directly affected by a campus-level threat.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a move school safety experts like Connelly have been pushing for, noting that Robb Elementary teachers weren\u2019t notified fast enough, or at all, of an armed intruder until it was too late. <\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how districts plan to implement this part of the school safety code, but Connelly said there\u2019s several ways to do it, from sending alerts to all staff devices to running automatic announcements on all campus screens. <\/p>\n How is SPAT funded?<\/p>\n While school districts often call school safety laws unfunded or underfunded mandates \u2014 often going into budget deficits or asking voters to pass bonds<\/a> to pay for tech upgrades \u2014 Connelly says the state is actually \u201cquite generous\u201d with the funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n Right after the Uvalde shooting, Texas passed several new school safety laws, from requiring armed officers at every campus (a mandate districts still struggle<\/a> with) to mandated fencing around campuses.<\/p>\n The state also created different safety grants, most of it tied to technology equipment, including a grant that automatically gave districts $1,905 for SPAT, leaving the rest up for grabs by districts to apply based on need.<\/p>\n SPAT-specific grants had to be spent by 2024, and TEA documents<\/a> show every San Antonio-area district applied for much more than the initial $1,905 amount.<\/p>\n At 911Cellular, SPAT technology can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 per campus depending on the software and hardware a school chooses. But some costs are less visible, like implementation, district-wide training and having a network strong enough to support new tech.<\/p>\n Later, the state created the School Safety Standards Formula Grant, $400 million that districts could use for SPAT and other safety equipment.<\/p>\n Under that grant program, districts automatically got $200,000 each in 2022. Districts could apply for the remaining funds based on need. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SouthSanISD_ShepardMiddleSchool_PanicSystem_HeightenedAlertSecurity_StudentCampusSafety_04_04.09.202.jpeg\")
Security cameras are seen mounted to the ceiling at the entrance of the cafeteria at South San ISD\u2019s Shepard Middle School. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SouthSanISD_ShepardMiddleSchool_PanicSystem_HeightenedAlertSecurity_StudentCampusSafety_01_04.09.202.jpeg\")
Shepard Middle School Principal Ricardo Moreno demonstrates the identification and check-in process required for non-staff visitors before entering the South San ISD campus on April 9, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ShepardMiddleSchool_SouthSanISD_LibraryBooks_EnglishSpanishLanguage_LiteracyLiterary_MathEducation_S.jpeg\")
Students work on curriculum problems ahead of their STAAR exams in a hallway at South San ISD\u2019s Shepard Middle School on April 9. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n