Free app available for safety in school

StudentProtect helps contact authorities

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mt. Lebanon School District and Mt. Lebanon Police Department joined forces to release MTLSD StudentProtect — a free app for students and residents to contact authorities, submit anonymous tips and receive alerts in case of a school shooting or violent incident.

StudentProtect originally was created in June 2017 by Shield Group Technologies, a security firm based in West Palm Beach, Fla. Mt. Lebanon is the first Pennsylvania school district to adopt the app to combat school shootings, company officials said.

Since it went live, the app has had about 1,000 downloads, said Roger Koch, CEO of Shield Group Technologies. He said that was a good first week average, compared to other schools that have implemented StudentProtect.

The district has a three-year agreement for the app, which was $4,500 for the first year and $3,000 for the next two years, said Cissy Bowman, district spokeswoman.

“It’s not going to happen, but I’d like everybody to have it,” said Timothy Steinhauer, superintendent of the Mt. Lebanon School District. “It’s empowering, to give people that [tool] in their hands.”

The app has multiple features that allow a user to provide information and also to receive alerts. For example, a user can call 911 and the app will provide the person’s location via GPS, it also allows users to provide tips or information about suspicious activity anonymously, and it allows users to receive alerts or information pertaining to their particular school.

The district and police department began talking about security needs in the aftermath of the