Five New Jersey Districts Pilot-Testing School Security App

Five New Jersey Districts Pilot-Testing School Security App

Five Bergen County districts will be pilot-testing a school safety app before it’s rolled out to the rest of the district’s campuses in September.

  • By Jessica Davis
  • June 11, 2019

Five Bergen County districts will be pilot-testing an app designed to increase school safety before it’s rolled out to the rest of the district’s campuses in September.

The LiveSafe app aims to make it easier to report threatening behavior and cyberbullying, help identify students that may need counseling and increase communication between law enforcement and teachers.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office signed a $150,000 three-year contract with the app’s developers in April. The office is working with the Dumont, Palisades Park, Park Ridge, Teaneck and Tenafly districts to test it out during the summer.

According to senior assistant prosecutor Martin Delaney, the LiveSafe app lets administrators, parents and particularly students to anonymously send in information about a variety of risks and dangerous behavior.

"It's a tip-reporting app, but it's also a means of two-way communication," Delaney said. "In other words, we can not only receive the tips, we can flow the information back out."

The Prosecutor’s Office will monitor the tips as well as send information back out.

Palisades Park Superintendent Joseph Cirillo said the app will first be used by students at the junior/senior high school before it’s used districtwide.

“Obviously, this is an opportunity to allow the children to be a voice,” Cirillo said. He said school board approval and parental consent will be required before the pilot-testing period can begin.

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

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