Alyssa's Law in Florida
Every Florida public school, including charter schools, is required to implement a mobile panic alert system. The system is known as Alyssa's Alert, and it must integrate with local 911 (public safety answering point) infrastructure to transmit 911 calls and mobile activations.
Every fact checked against the official source by an independent reviewer · Last verified October 25, 2026
What does the Florida law require?
Each public and charter school must implement a mobile panic alert system. The system must integrate with local 911 infrastructure to transmit 911 calls and mobile activations. Districts may add other strategies or systems for first-responder coordination on top of the required system.
In 2025 the Legislature added a statewide layer. Subject to an appropriation, the Department of Education, working with the Department of Management Services, must identify a centralized system that lets 911 centers receive alerts from all panic alert systems. Once that centralized system is established, each public and charter school must confirm with its district that its panic alert system is connected to it. The Department of Education selected SaferWatch to run the statewide centralized alert platform, called FLSCAP. It announced FLSCAP to districts, school safety specialists and 911 centers in a memo dated May 29, 2026.
Who is covered?
Public schools, including charter schools.
What does the state rule add?
The Department of Education's rule, as the department quotes it on its Alyssa's Alert page, adds these duties:
- Districts must consider fixed panic buttons, mobile and desktop apps, landline phones and wearable panic alerts when planning how many devices to use and where.
- Districts must send the Office of Safe Schools a list of each school's panic alert system every year by August 1.
- If a panic alert system fails to connect to the 911 center, the school safety specialist must notify the superintendent, the system's vendor and the Office of Safe Schools immediately, and no later than 24 hours.
How is it funded?
The Department of Education says the Legislature allocated $6.4 million in recurring state funds for Alyssa's Alert. Districts may pick a department-contracted system free of charge, or pay locally for a system of their choice. The department pays only for services from its selected vendors, up to each district's allocation.
Bill and statute history
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| 2020 act | Chapter 2020-145, Laws of Florida (CS/CS/SB 70), which may be cited as Alyssa's Law |
| Approved and effective | Approved June 30, 2020; took effect July 1, 2020 |
| 2025 amendment | Chapter 2025-58 (CS/SB 1470), approved May 21, 2025, effective July 1, 2025 |
| Statute | Florida Statutes § 1006.07(4); the history note credits chapters 2020-145 and 2025-58 |
How can QuickSecure help?
Panic, the QuickSecure mobile app, lets any staff member raise an Alert from a phone. Schools start with Lockdown, Fire, Medical and Admin Alerts, each with its response workflow already built, and can add their own Alert types with their own workflows.
Schools can also add a physical panic button.
Each school sets how every Alert type behaves: silent or announced, a critical alert or a normal notification, whether it also sends email and text messages, and how it looks, down to its color, icon and wording.
Dispatch sends the Alert straight to 911 through RapidSOS, with one confirmation step. Each school chooses which Alert types call 911.
Mass notifications lets a school choose how each message goes out: app notifications, critical alerts, text messages or email.
Nexus holds campus maps and floor plans, plus details such as where the AEDs are, who is on site, which class each person is in and their status, and responders can see them during an Alert.
Drill management runs practice drills through the same workflow as a real Alert, so in a real emergency every step is already familiar and nobody stops to second-guess it. A drill never sends a real Dispatch.
This is not a statement that any product satisfies Florida law; districts choose from the state's contracted systems or pay locally, and that choice belongs to your district and its counsel.