Cobb update given on school security

Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, front right, said AlertPoint will enable every school official to have their own alert device to instantly issue 911 warnings to first responders and trigger a Code Red lockdown throughout the school. AJC file photo

Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, front right, said AlertPoint will enable every school official to have their own alert device to instantly issue 911 warnings to first responders and trigger a Code Red lockdown throughout the school. AJC file photo

AlertPoint is the new security system being employed by the Cobb County School District, reiterated Superintendent Chris Ragsdale in response to all of the emails he has received since the Feb. 14 Florida school shooting.

Other than Bells Ferry Elementary School and Kennesaw Mountain High School, Ragsdale would not specify which schools have AlertPoint in place during the Feb. 15 work session of the Cobb County Board of Education.

Every teacher and every staff member will be equipped with a device to give instant notification to Cobb first responders of an emergency situation - whether an active shooter, a fight or a medical emergency - and where on the school campus.

If the sender sends a “Code Red” alert, flashing lights, beeper alarms and an automated voice will warn the entire school: “Code Red - Total School Lockdown - Locks, Lights, Out of Sight.”

All schools will receive new keys for the 8,000 classrooms, Ragsdale said.

Also new are unannounced Code Red drills by public safety and unannounced visits by undercover suspicious persons to test how far they can go in a school before being encountered by a school official.

Ragsdale said CCSD has “the largest public school police force in the state” - all post-certified as with all law enforcement.

School Safety Hotline (a confidential violence reporting system for Cobb County schools): 1-877-729-7867.

Information: cobbk12.org/CentralOffice/PublicSafety.