SALEM, OR -- Oregon’s House passed a $10 billion budget for K-12 education this week. It includes funding for a panic alarm system in every school.

For Central Oregon State Rep. Emerson Levy, funding the rollout of Alyssa’s Law is fulfillment of a campaign promise, "I feel like, as a mom, a lot of times when these school shootings happen, you’re kind of left with the question: ‘who’s looking out for my kid?’ ‘What are we doing?’"

Levy says teachers and staff would use a mobile app to quickly notify others in the building and first responders of a potential school shooter. It can also dispatch medics if there’s a life-threatening allergic reaction or other medical issue. "The teacher can hit a button that clicks to EMS - you hold it down for a second and a half," Levy tells KBND News. "And, we’ve worked with Deschutes County 911 to make sure it all works as it should; and there’s money to integrate it into our CAD system. At the same time, schools can program it so that every teacher or staff member that is CPR trained or has access to an Epi pen would be notified." She adds, "The value of these apps is it buys time. It certainly doesn’t solve or end an emergency, but it gives us more time to react."

Levy says $2.5 million included in the Oregon Department of Education budget would pay for the app and integration into local 911 systems. She stresses it's being used succesfully in other states where Alyssa's Law has already passed, and saving lives in medical emergencies, "The app was originally created to just really address ‘bad guy’ situations. However, now that it’s been implemented in three states, that’s what actually the bulk of it is for is inside emergencies. It’s behaviors, it’s anaphylactic shocks, it’s athletes with heart issues."

The State House approved the $10 billion budget bill this week, but it’s now stuck in the Senate backlog. Levy is still optimistic Alyssa’s Law will make it to the Governor’s Desk, "Because it is in a budget note and it doesn’t have to go through the full process, when they come back, we can pass it." But she recognizes the Senate walkout is holding up the process, "It’s been a three-year journey to get to this point and I hope that we can come to a framework that everyone can agree on. And I really do remain hopeful."

Alyssa’s Law is named for one of the teens killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida in 2017.

file photo