What Is Alyssa’s Law and Which States Have Passed It?

Alyssa’s Law requires public schools to install silent panic alarms that connect directly to law enforcement during an emergency, bypassing the delay of a traditional 911 call. It is named for Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As of 2025, eleven states have enacted a version of the law, though what each state actually requires varies widely. A federal version remains pending in Congress.

What a Silent Panic Alarm Does

The technology at the center of the law is a silent panic alarm, sometimes called a mobile panic alert system. A teacher or staff member activates it through a phone app, a wearable button on a lanyard, or a fixed button in a classroom. The alert goes straight to local law enforcement or a Public Safety Answering Point. Nothing sounds inside the building.

That silence is the point. In an active-threat situation, a loud alarm or a spoken 911 call can give away where staff are hiding. A panic button sends the school’s address, and in more capable systems the specific location within the building, in a single press. Florida’s statute requires the system to integrate with local Public Safety Answering Point infrastructure and connect to digital school maps so responders can see exactly where the alert came from.¹

Compared to a 911 call, which depends on someone speaking clearly while potentially hiding, a panic alarm can shave minutes off a response.

Which States Have Passed Alyssa’s Law

Eleven states have enacted a version of Alyssa’s Law between 2019 and 2025. New Jersey went first in February 2019, requiring every public elementary and secondary school building to have at least one panic alarm.² Florida passed its version in 2020. Texas, Tennessee, and New York followed in 2023. Utah, Oklahoma, and Louisiana enacted theirs in 2024. Georgia, Washington, and Oregon all joined in 2025.³

The pace has picked up sharply. It took four years to get the first five states on board, then six more joined inside two years. Other states have introduced similar bills or run pilot programs without enacting a full law.

How Requirements Differ From State to State

Every version carries the Alyssa’s Law name, but the rules behind that name range from strict installation mandates to softer “consider it” language. That difference changes what a school actually has to do.

Strict Mandates

Texas has the most prescriptive version. Every classroom in every public school district and open-enrollment charter school must have silent panic alert technology that allows immediate contact with district emergency services, law enforcement, health departments, and fire departments. The requirement took effect for the 2025–2026 school year. Texas also specifies that a panic alarm does not satisfy the separate requirement for staff to have telephone or electronic communication access in classrooms; schools need both.⁴

Florida requires every public school and charter school to put a mobile panic alert system in place capable of real-time coordination between multiple first responder agencies. The system must integrate with local Public Safety Answering Point infrastructure, and the state has directed its Department of Education to identify a centralized platform that can receive alerts from all approved vendors and display digital school maps for responders.¹

New Jersey requires at least one panic alarm per public elementary and secondary school building.² Georgia, under a law titled Ricky and Alyssa’s Law, requires public K–12 schools to install mobile panic alert systems and provide updated digital building maps to law enforcement.⁵

Softer or More Flexible Versions

Not every state’s law is a mandate. New York’s version, signed in June 2022, requires district-wide school safety teams to consider installing a panic alarm system as part of their safety plan reviews.⁶ Schools must think about it and document that they did. They are not required to install anything.

Oregon’s 2025 law takes the same approach. Districts must consider installing a wireless or wearable panic alarm, with state funding available, but no installation is mandated.⁷

Washington’s 2025 version is different again. Instead of prescribing a panic button, it defines an “emergency response system” that can include panic or alert buttons, live video or audio feeds accessible to law enforcement, remote-controlled door locks, or two-way communication systems. Districts must work with local law enforcement and Public Safety Answering Points to adopt at least one of those options.⁸

Which Schools Are Covered

Alyssa’s Law applies to public K–12 schools in every state that has passed it. Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Washington explicitly extend their mandates to charter schools.¹⁴ Washington also covers state-tribal education compact schools.⁸

Private schools are not covered. A private school is free to install the same technology voluntarily, but the statutory requirements and the state funding tied to them are directed at public institutions. A private school pursuing a panic alarm system would need to pay for it independently or apply for federal grants.

The Federal ALYSSA Act

A federal version called the ALYSSA Act has been introduced in multiple Congresses without passing. The most recent, H.R. 1524 in the 119th Congress, was introduced in the House on February 24, 2025. It would require every local educational agency receiving federal elementary and secondary education funds to equip each of its schools with at least one silent panic alarm for use in a school security emergency.⁹

The enforcement mechanism is federal funding. Rather than creating a new agency, the bill ties compliance to money schools already receive, meaning noncompliant schools could lose access to those funds. As of early 2026, the bill has not advanced to a floor vote in either chamber.

How Schools Pay for the Technology

Cost is the most common objection raised by school districts. Panic alarm platforms are subscription-based software, and vendors generally don’t publish prices, so districts need to request quotes. Several funding sources exist to offset the expense.

At the federal level, the Department of Justice’s COPS Office runs the School Violence Prevention Program, authorized under the STOP School Violence Act of 2018. These grants fund school safety technology including systems for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency. Awards cover up to 75% of project costs, capped at $500,000 per award over three years, and the applicant provides the remaining 25% as a local cash match. Eligible applicants include law enforcement agencies, local government entities such as school districts, and federally recognized tribal governments.¹⁰

Several states have put their own money behind their laws:

New Jersey allocated $75 million through the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act, prioritizing Alyssa’s Law compliance. The state covers 100% of eligible costs up to each district’s maximum allowance, and districts can apply for retroactive reimbursement for systems installed as far back as January 2016.¹¹
Texas schools may use funds from the school safety allotment under Section 48.115 of the Education Code or other available funds.⁴
Oregon appropriated $2.5 million for panic alarm systems and reimburses districts $2,000 per school building through the Department of Education’s School Safety and Emergency Management program.⁷

States that mandate the technology without dedicated funding effectively push the cost onto local school budgets, which can slow implementation in districts that are already stretched.

What Happens if a School Doesn’t Comply

Existing state versions of Alyssa’s Law generally don’t include explicit penalties for noncompliance. Neither Florida nor Texas, for example, imposes a fine on a district that misses a deadline. Enforcement runs through administrative oversight: state education departments track compliance, and noncompliant districts can expect scrutiny during safety audits and plan reviews.

The more realistic pressure is civil liability. A district that was legally required to have a panic alarm, didn’t install one, and then experienced an emergency where a slower response contributed to harm would be in a difficult legal position. That exposure, combined with the reputational cost of being publicly noncompliant with a law named after a school shooting victim, tends to drive adoption more effectively than a statutory fine would.

Florida does require schools to establish a schedule for testing the functionality and signal coverage of all emergency communication systems, which creates an ongoing obligation beyond initial installation.¹ A panic button in a classroom with no signal is worse than no button at all, because it creates a false sense of security.

1
The Florida Legislature. The 2025 Florida Statutes – Section 1006.07
2
New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Procedures for Compliance with Alyssas Law
3
Security Industry Association. Three States Join the Nationwide Push for Alyssas Law
4
Texas Legislature. 88th Legislature SB 838 – Enrolled Version
5
WSAV. Ricky and Alyssas Law to Make Panic Buttons in Schools Mandatory
6
New York State Senate. New York State Senate Bill 2021-S7132B
7
Oregon State Legislature. Alyssas Law Passes Oregon House Unanimously
8
BillTrack50. WA SB5004
9
Congress.gov. H.R.1524 – 119th Congress (2025-2026) ALYSSA Act
10
COPS Office. School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)
11
NJ.gov. Alyssas Law Compliance and School Security Grants