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October 5, 2009
By Lauren Matson
Press Release
MONTGOMERY- Alabama Homeland Security Director Jim Walker congratulates Geneva County Schools for their efforts in ensuring safety for their school children.
The Geneva County School System is one of the first school districts in the state to upload school floor plans and emergency plans into Virtual Alabama. In doing this, Geneva County first responders can now see a virtual picture of the nine Geneva County schools.
“In a crisis, the first responders in Geneva County won’t be guessing anymore the layout of Samson High School or where all the hazardous materials are kept,” Director Jim Walker said. “In an emergency, that’s important. Having this information loaded in Virtual Alabama is what will help save lives.”
Virtual Alabama is a 3-D, interactive program. Law enforcement and emergency personnel across the state use the program in layering data that’s important to a specific situation. With the Virtual Alabama School Safety Initiative, a team from Auburn University Montgomery’s Center for Government chooses one school in a district to map first. However, representatives from surrounding schools attend the session so they have the tools and training to load imagery for their respective school in the future. In this case, Samson High School was the designated Geneva County School. Local law enforcement and emergency managers from the county also attend the meetings. Together the group learns the Virtual Alabama program and decides what information would be significant to know in a crisis. By the end of the session, the schools, information and imagery are designed into Virtual Alabama.
Samson High School Principal Danny Branch said, “We at Samson High School are excited about the opportunity to work in conjunction with our local law enforcement and emergency personnel in an effort to help all those involved do their jobs more effectively. May God forbid the need for this amazing program, but thankfully, its availability is a blessing and will be very beneficial to our schools.”
The Virtual Alabama School Safety Initiative is a partnership with the Alabama Homeland Security Department, Alabama Department of Education, Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center and Auburn University Montgomery Center for Government.
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