SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Seminole County Public Schools has been proactive when it comes to school safety over the years.
The county was the first in the state to use the new Rave Panic Button app, which allows staff to alert school officials and law enforcement of a possible threat on campus.
But, could Wi-Fi and cellular dead zones at the schools affect whether that app and even calls to 911 work to get the emergency message out?
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The school district said there are dead zones but said it is in the middle of a major Wi-Fi upgrade at all the schools to improve the coverage.
"There is always going to be areas or a pocket of a school that might have a slight dead zone," said Michael Lawrence, with Seminole County Public Schools.
Lawrence said there are probably dead zones in some of their schools right now that have not been discovered. He points out that teachers have phones in the classroom and radios on them in case they don't have the app or it doesn't work.
The schools also adjust Wi-Fi settings to cover those dead zones when found.
In the meantime, the district is being proactive by upgrading the Wi-Fi system at all schools from 4G to 5G.
Of the nine high schools, Crooms, Lake Brantley and Lake Howell are left to get an upgrade. The elementary school upgrades will begin after the high schools are complete, with the middle schools to begin their upgrades by late 2020.
A spokesperson for the teachers union said they have experienced the dead zones at the schools but said they haven't had any teachers complain about them.
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