BATON ROUGE - Governor John Bel Edwards announced Thursday that the state will provide funding for all K-12 schools to contact first responders more quickly during campuswide emergencies.

The governor says the RAVE Mobile Safety app will help alert authorities in the event of a school threat. Rave Mobile Safety will provide the Rave Panic Button app to all schools, allowing teachers to quickly request immediate assistance from law enforcement or other first responders in the event of a health or safety emergency in their classroom. 

When a teacher, administrator or staff member activates the button, it simultaneously places a 911 call to dispatch help while delivering immediate notification of the type and location of the emergency to other school employees and first responders.

“Today we are taking a step forward in making our schools safer with technology that will dramatically improve reporting and response times for teachers and other educators who face emergency situations while in their classrooms,” Gov. Edwards said. “While we hope and pray that the safety of our children and their teachers is never compromised, it’s our hope that this technology will assist in protecting our schools.”

This is funded with $4 million included in the state’s FY 20 budget. The app will begin to be deployed to schools across the state this fall.