Emergency evacuationClassrooms cut off from emergency alert systems

Published 12 August 2011

Classrooms were designed to be isolated cocoons that allow children to focus on learning away from distractions; while ideal for learning, these classrooms pose a significant problem for mass notification systems making it difficult for authorities to notify children, college students, and teachers during emergencies

Classrooms were designed to be isolated cocoons that allow children to focus on learning away from distractions. While ideal for learning, these classrooms pose a significant problem for mass notification systems making it difficult for authorities to notify children, college students, and teachers during emergencies.

An increasing number of alert systems have begun turning to cell phones as a way of reaching people, however in classrooms cell phone use is often prohibited. According to the National Association of School Resource Officers, 81 percent of K-12 schools do not allow the use of cell phones in school and sixteen states have even passed laws that ban cell phone use from classrooms entirely.

College campuses also carry similar prohibitions, with professors barring them in their classroom due to the disruptions that they cause. A National Education Association survey found that 85 percent of professors on college campuses supported banning cell phones in their classrooms.<./p>

“I don’t want students to have phones out during class,” said Emily Drill, an adjunct lecturer in neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and Allegheny College. “I make it a policy for phones to be turned off in the classroom.”

These policies naturally make it difficult for school administrators or public authorities to reach students during emergencies. For instance in the event of an emergency like a shooter on campus, most universities rely on cell phones, text messages, e-mails, and web announcements that fail to penetrate the classroom.

According to a survey conducted by the University of Louisville, nearly 90 percent of universities and colleges use cell phone calling/text messaging systems for emergency notification. About 98 percent use e-mail and 95 percent make announcements on the school website.

“Emergency notifications in the classroom setting must be made by more effective tools than e-mail, text messages or Web pages. Two-way communication systems, radio receivers, digital signage or VoIP phones provide the most rapid means for emergency notification,” said Dennis Sullivan, the assistant environmental health and safety director and emergency manager at Louisville University.

To overcome these challenges, some firms have begun developing specialized communication devices placed in each classroom that can be activated during emergencies.

These devices – manufactured by firms like Metis Secure Solutions and Cisco – run on their own networks allowing administrators to target specific areas for notification to deliver the most accurate warnings.

For instance, Louisville University, which has installed emergency VoIP phones in every classroom that are capable of receiving text and audio, used its system to great effect during the recent tornado season.

“During a recent tornado warning, every classroom was provided timely warning that was faster than text messages, e-mails or our Web page,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan says that so far less than 20 percent of higher education institutions have deployed in-building emergency notification systems. He warns that these numbers mean many students in classrooms will not receive emergency notifications and that schools and colleges should investigate installing these new systems to ensure the safety of students without disrupting the learning environment.