Eastmont Superintendent Announces CrisisGo, Talks School Safety

Eastmont School District will utilize a new app to announce emergencies.

Interim Superintendent Spencer Taylor says parents, students, and staff will have access to CrisisGo within the next month.

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"Typically we'd have to go to the office, get on the intercom... to initiate the lockdown," Taylor said. "We can do it from our phone, and immediately on every screen in the school, and our intercom... would announce a lockdown, there would be an image on the screen, and it would also notify law enforcement."

CrisisGo says they have been at the forefront of K-12 schools for the past 10 years. Their flagship product, the one Eastmont School District is likely using, is called Safety iResponse. CrisisGo says it's a comprehensive platform allowing school staff to quickly and easily communicate with one another and with first responders during an emergency. CrisisGo technology partners with Amazon Web Services.

"That quickly get us into whatever response mode we need to be," Taylor said. "Time... is of the essence, so excited about that app and the upcoming rollout."

On the topic of school safety, Taylor says their partnership with East Wenatchee Police Department and Douglas County Sheriff's Office has helped keep their schools safer with School Resource Officers (SROs).

"We have the best partnership with local law enforcement," Taylor said. "Because of their presence, it's very preventative. Having officers on campus provides a level of security and peace, and also, if students were thinking about something, knowing that law enforcement is there, I think they would think twice about that."

Taylor also says their partnerships allow administrators to run scenarios with local law enforcment agencies as practice for if an emergency occurs.

"We do tabletop excercises together with law enformcement administrators and they present a scenario," Taylor said. "We have to say we would respond this way, we'd notify parents here, we'd have students do this."

Taylor also says safety is one of Eastmont School District's top priorities.