Park City School District to give every employee a wearable panic button

The Centegix devices will allow staff to alert a school’s front office or contact emergency responders directly during a crisis.

PARK CITY, Utah — Every Park City School District employee will receive a wearable panic button as part of a new emergency alert system coordinated with local law enforcement and other Summit County school districts.

The Park City Board of Education adopted a new classroom safety and emergency alert policy Tuesday outlining the required use of the devices during working hours.

PCSD selected Centegix, one of three vendors approved by the Utah State Board of Education. Administrative staff, teachers, support employees, and athletic coaches will each receive a device, district spokesperson Colton Elliott said Wednesday.

“To maximize interoperability and consistency for first responders, we are coordinating with other Summit County school districts to adopt the exact same system,” Elliott said.

Employees can trigger two alert levels. Pressing the button three times sends an internal alert to the school’s front office, while pressing it eight times notifies local emergency services directly.

The battery-operated devices do not depend on the district’s computer network, officials said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

PCSD is coordinating with the Park City Police Department and Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Comprehensive testing with both agencies will begin after the devices arrive, Elliott said.

The district does not yet have an official delivery date. The district will establish a distribution and activation schedule once the hardware arrives.

State funding allocations have also not been finalized, and it remains unclear whether the state will cover the full cost. Elliott said the district has dedicated safety and security reserves available to cover any shortfall.

Utah’s school safety law requires devices, which direct school districts and charter schools to provide the lead teacher in each classroom with a wearable panic button that communicates with emergency dispatchers. PCSD’s plan goes further by providing devices to all district employees.

The statewide requirement originated with House Bill 84, approved by lawmakers in 2024. The Legislature has since updated the law to extend the requirement to designated school safety personnel beginning July 1, 2027.

The Utah School Safety Center selected Centegix, Motorola, and Carasoft/SaferWatch as approved vendors. The state program provides devices, training, technical support, and system configuration at its initial service level for approved school districts.