{"id":443818,"date":"2026-09-22T08:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/443818\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T08:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:08:19","slug":"fort-worth-isd-working-to-adopt-silent-panic-alert-system-to-comply-with-texas-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/443818\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth ISD working to adopt silent panic alert system to comply with Texas law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cEvery employee in the district has a badge that they can use to initiate either a lockdown or a staff alert,” Security Director Michael Lemish said.<\/p>\n

ARGYLE, Texas \u2014 Fort Worth ISD is working to implement a silent panic alert system for its schools in order to comply with a new state law.<\/p>\n

The Fort Worth ISD Board of Managers approved the purchase of Centegix on Sept. 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased to have Centegix as an added layer of safety for our schools and look forward to implementing the technology once the contract is finalized,\u201d the district said in a statement.<\/p>\n


\n \"\" <\/p>\n


\n This story continues below. <\/p>\n

After the May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde<\/a>, where 19 students and two teachers were killed, Texas lawmakers passed Alyssa\u2019s Law, requiring schools to have silent panic alert systems. The law took effect last school year.<\/p>\n

Argyle ISD has had the safety measure in place for years<\/p>\n

If an AISD school has an emergency, staff members know help is on the way. They upgraded its panic alert system to strengthen safety. Even if the emergency is medical in nature, a designated team is trained to respond to the person handling the emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know the help is on the way,\u201d AISD Security Management Coordinator Michael Lemish said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because in 2019, the district purchased the Centegix silent panic alert system, overseen by Lemish.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery employee in the district has a badge that they can use to initiate either a lockdown or a staff alert, and then every campus has a group of responders,\u201d Lemish said.<\/p>\n

Lemish says the district added the extra layer of security after a gunman killed 17 people in the 2018 Parkland school shooting.<\/p>\n

AISD spends between $12,000 and $15,000 per campus each year for the system. The district was using a different system prior to Centegix that did not have the same features. The district can also use the system during non-class time. During sporting events, if there is an emergency, they can alert staff and administrators, Lemish said.<\/p>\n

The system is also being used in Mansfield ISD, where staff, administrators and teachers received training in 2023.<\/p>\n

MISD Director of Security Brit Fortner says the system gives every employee the ability to respond when there is a threat. The district used to rely on a cellular-based alert system that required staff and teachers to download the program on their personal devices. Upgrading to the panic button style system has proven more effective for the district. They even supply substitute teachers with Centegix training.<\/p>\n

\u201cA threat isn’t always going to enter at the front door. So, we want every staff member in the district to be able to put a building into lockdown if they need to,\u201d Fortner said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an extra layer of security Lemish said he believes can make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime that a staff member needs help, we can use the system,\u201d Lemish said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cEvery employee in the district has a badge that they can use to initiate either a lockdown or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-443818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}