After Latest Attack, District to Give Teachers Panic Buttons

A student faces charges after an assault in a Nevada classroom last week
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 13, 2022 5:55 PM CDT
After Latest Attack, District To Give Teachers Panic Buttons
An electronic sign stands outside Eldorado High School in Las Vegas on Friday. A student faces counts of attempted murder and sexual assault, Las Vegas Metro Police said, after a teacher was attacked in a classroom at the school.   (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

The metro Las Vegas school district will provide electronic panic-button devices to teachers as it moves to boost security in the wake of incidents that include a violent after-school attack that left a teacher injured and unconscious in her classroom. In addition to providing teachers with panic devices equipped with Bluetooth connectivity, the Clark County School District will upgrade security cameras and ask police agencies to increase their presence at schools, officials said Tuesday. The panic devices will be issued first at Eldorado High School, the site of last week's attack, the AP reports. A 16-year-old student faces sex assault and attempted murder charges in the case.

Escalating violence, including fights, assaults and brawls, in the district have prompted frustration among teachers, public safety officials and others. "This cannot wait one more day," said Clark County Education Association President Marie Neisess. "We must act now." Brigid Duffy, juvenile division director of the county district attorneys office, said, "We have seen not an increase of calls, but an increase of the violence, a lack of empathy, and a lack of respect to our adult authority." The sprawling district, the nation's fifth-largest, has more than 300,000 students and 18,000 teachers at about 336 campuses.

(More school violence stories.)

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