$2.5 million available to Oregon schools to enhance emergency procedures

BEND, Ore. – School districts across the state can now apply for grant money to fund wireless panic alarms in every school.

According to the Oregon Representative Emerson Levy, who introduced Alyssa’s Law last year, this $2.5 million Wireless Panic Alarm Grant program is an important step in an effort to improve school safety.

HB 3101, also known as Alyssa’s Law would require Oregon school districts to install silent panic alarm systems in their schools. Although the bill didn’t pass during the 2023 legislative session because of Senate Republican walkouts, the state Department of Education’s School Safety and Emergency Management secured grant funds under HB 5014.

“We can all sleep better tonight knowing our tax dollars are going to this common sense approach to enhancing our emergency procedures in and around our school campuses,” said Rep. Levy. “From a student needing an EpiPen, to a natural disaster or man-made emergency, this funding will give our school districts the ability to community more efficiently and effectively within the school campus and with first responders. In an emergency, every second counts.”

Alyssa’s Law is named in memory of 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff who tragically died during the Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School shooting in 2017. Rep. Levy plans to reintroduce HB 3101 in the 2025 legislative session.

All Oregon school districts that provide services to students during the regular school year are eligible to apply for the Wireless Panic Alarm Grant. Each district that is awarded a portion of the grant will be reimbursed $2,000 per school within their district.