Board briefed on Syntegix wearable alert and visitor‑management system; startup cost included in FY26 draft

Talbot County Public Schools staff introduced a proposed school safety platform from Syntegix that would combine wearable alert badges, digital building maps and visitor management. John, regional vice president for Syntegix, joined the board's work session remotely to demo the Crisis Alert system and answer questions. Mr. Schafer, a district school safety staff member, said a cross‑agency focus group including the Talbot County Sheriff's Office and emergency management had reviewed multiple vendors and recommended Syntegix for pilot and implementation discussions.

John described the system as a three‑part platform: Crisis Alert (a wearable badge staff carry), Safety Blueprint (digital building maps and mapped safety assets such as AEDs and cameras) and Visitor Management (badges and background checks for visitors and contractors). He emphasized that Crisis Alert is not dependent on cellular or Wi‑Fi service: "it's not dependent on cellular service and it's not dependent on your Wi Fi service," John said, explaining that the system uses a dedicated on‑campus network of locating beacons and battery‑operated devices with gateway failover and battery backup.

Features discussed in detail included: one‑button activation for staff alerts (three presses triggers a staff help alert), an intentionally distinct lockdown activation (eight presses to trigger a campuswide lockdown), classroom and hallway strobes and integration with PA/intercom systems and computer‑screen lockdown messages. John said the platform can pinpoint the button‑pressing user's location to a classroom or an outdoor campus location and that response teams in the building receive simultaneously the same alert on phone and computer screens. The vendor collects event metadata in a dashboard that district staff can use for trend analysis and resource allocation.

Board members asked about privacy, false activations, strobes affecting students with sensory issues, reliance on networks and ongoing maintenance. John and district staff said: (1) the Crisis Alert wearable is active only when a user presses the button and does not continuously track staff; (2) visitor badges that provide real‑time location are active while issued to a visitor (that use is optional and can be limited by school); (3) strobes are typically interior but can be configured, and exterior locating beacons are used to cover athletic fields and parking lots; and (4) all hardware devices are battery operated with multi‑year batteries and are monitored via the vendor's service contract.

District staff told the board the budget request included a top‑line number that covers startup costs and the first year of service; the presentation said the procurement would be a multi‑year contract (staff indicated five years in vendor planning). Staff also said the budget number is a "top line" estimate and can be reduced through options such as excluding some non‑school buildings or negotiating phased implementation. The district noted that the Maryland Center for School Safety (MCSS) provides capital grants for certain security projects but said the largest MCSS program is for capital improvements and may not cover all elements of the proposed platform; staff said they would pursue any eligible grants.

Some board members expressed support for improving notification and response times; several noted training, policy and strict use rules would be necessary to minimize false activations and to set expectations about who receives alerts and how alerts are handled. One member urged staff to explore state grant opportunities and to consider phased rollouts to reduce upfront cost.

No procurement decision was made at the meeting. Staff were asked to continue investigating pricing, grant availability and phased implementation options and to return with contract and procurement recommendations if the board chooses to pursue the system.