Alyssa’s Law named after Alyssa Alhadeff, a victim of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy, requires schools to have silent panic alert systems linked directly to first responders and law enforcement agencies. Already passed into law in Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, Alyssa’s Law has quickly gained traction around the country.
Alyssa’s Law’s Current Status in Washington
Senate Bill (SB) 5004, from the 2025 Regular Session, was signed into law by Governor Bob Ferguson on Monday, May 19, 2025.
What Washington Schools Need to Know to Comply
Washington SB 5004’s bill text states that school districts must work collaboratively with local law enforcement agencies, public safety answering points, and safety and security staff to develop an emergency response system to expedite law enforcement response and arrival in the event of a school threat or emergency. An emergency response system must include at least one of the following:
- Panic or alert buttons tied to school administration, district staff, and emergency response providers;
- Live video or audio feed with law enforcement, school district, and school access;
- Remote control access to doors;
- Live interactive two-way communications; or
- A system that complies with state building code requirements for group E occupancies for emergency response systems or systems developed as part of a safe school plan.
By 10/1/2025, school districts will be required to submit a report documenting their progress on the implementation of an emergency response system to The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
How Raptor Solutions Align With Washington Alyssa’s Law Requirements
Raptor provides multiple alerting methods to enable staff to silently and more easily expedite the call for help during emergencies, ensuring compliance with Alyssa’s Law requirements in Washington. Designed to work under duress, Raptor Alert and Raptor Badge Alert provide a silent panic alert system for school staff. The system:
- Is compatible with all standard Public Safety Answering Points and emergency calling infrastructure, and is RapidSOS Ready, accelerating the transfer of critical emergency alert data to 911 and with first responders during emergencies.
- Situation-specific notifications are delivered through text, phone, email, desktop alerts, strobes, PA systems, monitors, and push notifications, ensuring staff receive critical updates instantly.
- Through the Raptor Connect Integration Platform, integrates with video management and door locking systems via partnerships with companies such as:
- Allegion
- Avigilon (Alta and Unity Access)
- Brivo
- DnaFusion
- Dormakaba
- Gabriel
- IPVideo Corporation
- Kisi
- Kognition.ai
- PDK (ProdataKey)
- Rhombus
- Vivi
- Enables critical communication. Once the alert is initiated, the Raptor Alert app enables real-time group messaging, allowing teams to stay in touch and share critical information throughout an incident, including precise locations, reducing stress and improving outcomes.
In harmony with Raptor Emergency Management, the system also provides schools access to Drill Manager, Badge Alert, the Raptor Alert App, advanced incident mapping, two-way in-app communication, RapidSOS Active Assailant Alerting, and full Accountability and Reunification capabilities.
Schools and districts using our ecosystem of school safety software experience significant impact on overall student wellbeing, emergency preparedness, streamlined communication, and collaboration.
Grants Supporting Washington School Panic Button Implementation
The FY25 COPS SVPP grant program provides $73M to school boards and districts nationwide and includes “technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency” as an allowable expense. Additionally, schools who were awarded funds from FY24 federal grant programs such as COPS SVPP, BJA STOP, and the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSP) have until 2027 to spend their awarded funds.
Want to learn more about how Raptor can help your district or school comply with Alyssa’s Law? Schedule a demo.
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