After the Georgia shooting, lawmakers are demanding that Ohio require panic buttons in schools

A Republican state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would require panic buttons in schools like those used at a Georgia high school where two students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting last month.

Senate Bill 315, known as “Alyssa’s Law,” would require all public schools and charter schools to equip their employees with portable, silent panic alarms to alert law enforcement and the school system to problems ranging from a medical emergency to to an active shooter.

Sen. Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester) said the bill would provide $25 million for the buttons in the next fiscal year, so it is not an unfunded mandate.

“We require schools to have fire alarms, sprinkler systems and locked doors. “At a time when our classrooms are at risk of violence, this is a logical step toward providing comprehensive safety equipment,” Reynolds said. “We are not creating new bureaucracies or violating constitutional rights. We give our educators the tools to protect themselves and our children.”

Mobile panic buttons are credited with saving lives in the incident at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia on September 4th.

The bill is named after Alyssa Aldaheff, who was a 14-year-old freshman student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when she and 16 others were killed on February 14, 2018.

“The principle of Alyssa’s law is simple. Time equals life. “We need to get our children and teachers to safety as quickly as possible and reduce the response time of our first responders,” said Alyssa’s mother, Lori Aldaheff, who has pushed for the bill across the country. “We need to focus on creating layers of safety and security and helping to keep our schools safe.”

Seven states – New Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Oklahoma and Florida – have passed the law. There is no law in Georgia requiring the devices, but the county had implemented it several weeks before the shooting.

A group of students who survived the Parkland shooting launched the March for Our Lives campaign, which advocates for universal background checks, retention requirements and other gun control measures.

Due to the busy schedule at the end of the session, the bill may not be passed as MPs are not expected back until after the election.