301.519.9237 exdirector@nesaus.org

8.9.22 – ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB)

Now deployed in over 500 schools in parishes throughout the state, with five more parishes recently being added to the coverage list, the Safe Schools Louisiana App is giving students a way to report concerns anonymously.

The app and program are a complimentary resource for school communities that provide students the ability to anonymously communicate about a pressing school, criminal or mental health concern.

Students are able to leave a tip, check tip status, add more information to existing tips and create new tips. They can also upload photos, screenshots, videos and audio.

Rapides is one of the five parishes recently added to the app’s coverage areas. Once the school system completes the onboarding process, the app will be available for free use.

The app was developed by Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans, in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education and Louisiana State Police. They work with local and regional law enforcement, social services and designated school administrators to ensure student safety.

“The administration team for a school is set up by that school system or the individual school, and we always make sure that we have a person that’s from law enforcement as part of that team member. And then we have on the other end of that, we ask for someone from the counseling services,” said Darlene Cusanza, President/CEO of Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans.

Submissions through the app are monitored and administrators are notified immediately for engagement. When there is a life safety concern, the entire Safe School team is contacted for immediate response and intervention.

Designated administrators in Rapides Parish began training for use of the app in August of 2022 for deployment during the 2022-2023 school year.

Click here to learn more about Safe Schools Louisiana.