As schools across Florida rush to meet the new requirements from the new Florida School Safety Law that went into effect Wednesday, Hillsborough County School District is working on installing buzzers in all of its schools by this fall.
“These are my kids and I’m responsible for everything that happens to them,” said Amy Rappleyea, principal at Barrington Middle School in Lithia. “The buzzer is important because that is the only access point to our whole entire school. It’s the only way you get in and out.”
On Wednesday, Barrington Middle School got their new front entrance buzzer installed, a process that took a few hours.
“If something doesn’t look right, that gives us a few extra minutes to get that resource officer on the phone to get to the front entrance and check it out,” Rappleyea said.
The buzzer system allows front desk staff to communicate with guests without having to let them inside the building first. Chris Farkas, deputy superintendent of operations for the Hillsborough County School District, said so far they have buzzers at more than 140 schools, and by fall they will have them in all schools.
“Each one of the installations for just the buzzer costs between $4,000 and $5,000. We are applying for a grant so hopefully there will be no cost to taxpayers,” Farkas said.
Schools are now also required to provide additional resources like a crisis team and a threat assessment team.
“There’s also a responsibility for students to self-report, making sure the school knows about potential threats so we can try to help in any way,” Farkas said.
While both Rappleyea and Farkas acknowledge adding front-door buzzers isn’t foolproof, they both say it’s a smart start in keeping students safer.
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