Dallas ISD students with a phone or computer have a safety tool at their fingertips. The district is using Say Something Anonymous Reporting System, which allows students who see or hear safety concerns to report them anonymously through the app.
"Student safety is a priority, " Townview School of Science & Engineering Principal Andrew Palacios said. "People want to know that they're safe. People want to know and feel that measures are being taken, and so Say Something is a very good example."
The app is being made available free through the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, a nonprofit formed after the nation's deadliest school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
When a report is made through Say Something, it's vetted and immediately passed onto DISD and the school campus.
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"So as principal of this campus, I don't have to worry about taking those extra seconds, and at times those can be critical seconds, to contact campus police," Palacios said.
Say Something Anonymous Reporting System is being used in more than 5,000 schools across the country.
"We don't wear bulletproof vests," Palacios said. "We enter this profession because we love our students."