Florida Senate Supports School Panic Alarms
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - With the measure dubbed "Alyssa's Law" after a victim of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting, the Florida Senate on Friday passed a bill that would require panic alarms in public schools throughout the state.
The Senate voted 40-0 to approve the bill (SB 70), sponsored by Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation.
The House also is poised to pass a panic-alarm bill (HB 23), though the Senate and House would have to work out differences in the details. Both versions are named "Alyssa's Law," after Alyssa Alhadeff, a student who was among 17 people killed in February 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Her mother, Lori Alhadeff, has helped lobby for the bill and said teachers would "be empowered to press a button and know that help will be on the way" if emergencies happen at schools.
"If the threat is in the cafeteria, and someone is on the football field, the teacher will know to take their class away from the school. So, Alyssa's Law will save lives," said Alhadeff, a member of the Broward County School Board.
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