School District to join Rogers on radio system

Network will provide instant communication in emergency

ROGERS — The School District will join the city on a system that will provide staff members instant communication with first responders in case of emergency, officials said.

The city has transitioned to the Arkansas Wireless Information Network, a statewide emergency radio system, and has agreed to let the district get on it as well.

Each school will get a certain number of radios employees may use to talk with each other or directly to the police and fire departments, said Charles Lee, the district’s assistant superintendent for general administration.

“They’ll have an instant line of communication with dispatch,” Lee said. “In any type of crisis, real-time information is one of the most valuable things responders to that situation can have.”

School bus drivers also will have the radios and will be able to speak to local law enforcement or district officials no matter where they are in the state, Lee said.

Rogers approved about $3.35 million for the system for the police and fire departments, according to Police Chief Hayes Minor. It’s one of numerous expenses covered by the extension of a one-cent sales tax city voters approved in August.

The School Board voted last month to join the network. The district has budgeted $350,000 to pay for its radios. Lee said the cost probably will be less. That is a one-time cost, though upgrades may be occasionally necessary that will cost additional money, he said.

The district’s next step is to apply to the state to join the network. District staff will receive training on how to manage “talk groups,” or channels on which specific groups of employees, such as those at a particular school, can talk to each other.

The network is used by the Arkansas State Police, the state Game and Fish Commission, the Arkansas Trauma System, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as some local police and fire departments. Lee said he’s not aware of another school district that is using the system.

The idea of the district joining the network came up during safety exercises the police and fire departments conducted with the district

last summer, Minor said.

“I think with the heightened focus on school safety, it’s a positive step,” Minor said.

Giving first responders the ability to communicate directly with people on the scene of an emergency — as opposed to having it relayed through a dispatch center — will provide them a better picture of what’s happening and where, Minor said.

“It’s very forward thinking on the part of the district and board to join” the network, Minor said.

Fire Chief Tom Jenkins agreed.

“This is the only community I’m aware of where the local police and fire departments and local school district will have seamless, interoperable communication,” Jenkins said.

Some may assume the investment will pay off only in case of a major crisis, such as an active shooter on campus. But Jenkins said the system will be beneficial in more common emergencies as well, such as a child who has been injured or is having an asthma attack.

An elementary school campus can be 20 acres or more, so knowing exactly where to go on campus in response to an emergency can save critical seconds, Jenkins said.

“It’s almost every call we have at a school, we spend a lot of time figuring out where we’re going on these campuses,” he said.