Alabama House approves bill requiring panic buttons in public schools

The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that requires all public schools to install an emergency rapid response system.

HB 234, sponsored by Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, requires all school districts in the state by 2030 to designate staff members to use mobile emergency rapid response systems, which instantly connect with law enforcement and first responders and give positions on a person’s location, and to equip and train them on the devices.

The bill passed 58-30 with 13 abstentions. Most of the votes against the legislation came from lawmakers concerned about funding.

Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, said he was supportive of the idea but said schools in his district could not afford to maintain the system.

“‘We would love to have one of those systems where we can just press a button, but we can’t afford it,’” Bedsole said one of his schools told him.

The Legislative Services Agency said there will be a $50,000 limit for the response system that local boards of education would choose.

Baker said the proposed emergency response system includes the floor and room that the emergency happens in, such as in an active shooter emergency. Bedsole, who had a career in law enforcement before representing Shelby County, said law enforcement will follow the sound of gunshots.

“It’s going to be helpful, maybe, to know where the room that the first alarm set off, but I’m going to be listening for gunshots,” Bedsole said. “You can tell me it was coming from that room, and that’s helpful, but that is not where I’m going to go.”

Baker said the system could also be used for medical emergencies or an accident in a chemistry class.

“This is intended to get the most accurate and quickest response that we can to a location,” Baker said. “It’s not all about a gunshot or a shooter.”

Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, proposed an amendment to make the requirement of the response system be subject to annual state school safety funds starting in 2030.

“If we are going to give them this mandate, we need to pay for it,” Rehm said Thursday.

The amendment passed 102-0.

Some lawmakers were concerned about schools that already have a similar system in place. Baker said those schools would not have to purchase a new, more expensive system under the legislation.

There have been three school shootings so far in 2025, according to Education Week. In September 2024, a gunman opened fire on Apalachee High School in Georgia killing two people and injuring nine. Baker said the high school’s emergency response system may have saved other lives.

“Because the emergency button that was pressed, they were able to save many more countless lives that might’ve been lost had they not been able to get that quick rapid response,” Baker said.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

This story is from alabamareflector.com.