Nodo Tech

Texas Senate Bill 838, Alyssa’s Law
August 30, 2023

If you reside in Texas you’ll want to be aware of this new law that was passed. As of May 5, 2023, Senate Bill 838 was signed by Governor Abbott to be effective immediately.

So what does it say?

Essentially that schools should have panic alerts in their classrooms. Both public and charter schools are beholden to this and should have it done by the 2025 School Year.

Nodo Tech has a great option for this by the way. Let me know if it makes sense to do a demo. I’ll elaborate on the features in the next blog post.

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If you want the unabridged text of the bill, here you go:

Sec. 37.117. PANIC ALERT DEVICE. (a) Each school district
	and open-enrollment charter school shall provide each classroom in
	the district or school with a panic alert device that allows for
	immediate contact with district or school emergency services or
	emergency services agencies, law enforcement agencies, health
	departments, and fire departments.
	(b) A panic alert device provided by a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school under this section does not satisfy
	the requirement under Section 37.108(a)(2) for the district or
	school to ensure employees have classroom access to a telephone or
	another electronic communication device.
	(c) To comply with this section, a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school may:
	(1) use funds provided to the district or school
	through the school safety allotment under Section 48.115 or other
	available funds; and
	(2) use the district’s or school’s customary
	procurement process.