Back to school, with panic buttons: The post-Uvalde scramble

Back to school, with panic buttons: The post-Uvalde scramble

Brent Kiger, Olathe Public Schools' director of safety service, displays a panic-alert button while students at Olathe South High School rush between classes Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in Olathe, Kan. The district introduced the buttons, which allow staff to trigger a lockdown that will be announced with flashing strobe lights, a takeover of staff computers and a prerecorded intercom announcement, at the start of this school year as part of $2.1 million plan to make district schools more secure. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Schools are installing panic buttons to summon help during a shooting, as they scramble to reassure worried parents after this spring’s massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and ahead of back-to-school. Panic buttons are mandated in multiple states. The mother of a Parkland, Florida, shooting victim promotes the buttons, arguing seconds matter when tragedy strikes. But some school safety experts raised concerns that schools are engaging in “security theater” designed to reassure parents, while neglecting basic safeguards like ensuring staff lock doors.

Photo: Brent Kiger, Olathe Public Schools’ director of safety service, displays a panic-alert button while students at Olathe South High School rush between classes Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in Olathe, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)