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District outlines plan for panic‑alert rollout as state grant and vendor approvals remain unsettled
Summary
District safety staff said the district will be able to meet the June 2026 panic‑button deadline for hardware if internal decisions proceed, but the state grant/RFP process is unresolved; installing panic hardware in the remaining 16 schools would cost about $900,000, plus ongoing dispatch interface fees.
OGDEN — Weber School District safety and technology staff told trustees the district is significantly advanced on classroom audio enhancement and panic‑alert integration, but that final statewide vendor approvals and grant releases remain unresolved.
Lane Finley, the district school safety officer, said the district has completed full audio‑enhancement systems in most high schools and will be roughly two‑thirds (66.7%) complete districtwide this summer under current schedules. He reviewed the chain of state legislation: House Bill 4 (panic‑alert requirements, June 2026 deadline), HB40 (added dispatch‑tie requirements) and HB44 (broadened which staff must have alerts and included visitor‑management language).
Finley said the state issued an RFP and a set of "verified vendors" tied to grant dollars, but that the district has not received grant awards because the vendor selection process is still unsettled and, according to staff, there is pending litigation related to that process. "We just don't know where that funding is," Finley said; he added that without clarity on the grant, the district must plan for local costs.
Casey Dalpas, technical services assistant director, estimated the hardware install to bring panic alerts to the remaining 16 schools would be about $900,000, installed. Dalpas also noted an ongoing interface/service cost to tie alerts to dispatch of approximately $3,500 per campus per year. Finley said the district previously requested roughly $6 million in state grant funds to finish full audio enhancement across the district but has not received confirmation of award or vendor approvals.
Finley described an approach to reduce up‑front cost by installing hardware that enables panic‑alert capability now and remains usable if the district later completes full audio enhancement. "We've worked with the engineers at Audio Enhancement to figure out a way that we can just do the panic buttons in our 16 remaining schools," he said, adding that the hardware can be reused if the district later upgrades.
Trustees asked whether the currently installed Audio Enhancement systems meet state technical requirements; Finley and Dalpas said the district believes its current systems can meet required protocols and that interface options are available to connect to any approved vendor if the state ultimately requires a different integration path.
The board did not commit capital funds during the meeting. Staff said they will continue to monitor the state RFP and legal developments, seek clarification on grant timing, and prepare budget options to deliver the panic‑alert requirement by the June 2026 deadline if state funds are not provided.
