CMS internal documents reveal issues with security system company

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — A system Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bought was supposed to bring an extra level of protection to high schoolers during frightening times. The crisis alert system was described as a high tech way to alert students and staff to an emergency.

Many of the issues revealed in internal documents obtained by Channel 9 were related to the part of the system called the “beacon.” According to CMS, those are supposed to sound the alarm when a teacher or staff member presses an alarm button on a badge provided by Centegix.

Charlotte East Language Academy, which according to a timeline laid out in the documents, went live as a pilot school in May.

The documents said, “Teacher needed assistance 6/6/19 and pressed badge. System did not work.”

A representative for Centegix said of this incident, “This school was in a pilot mode last June. The alert was delivered on the network; however, the user configurations had not been done. This is necessary to determine the responder (user) that should receive the alert. These configurations are required. To our knowledge, there have been no other reports of this situation.”

The documents also reveal in June, “Subcontractors for Centegix did a poor job,” with “beacons in places such as lockers, door frames, stairway handles.” It said, “beacons falling and/or going off randomly with numerous emails from schools to our department with complaints.”

This is cutting-edge technology, so glitches are to be expected, but the documents show problems persisted into the fall, with beacons not working at a handful of schools.

In January, the superintendent publicly addressed the issues, giving Centegix an ultimatum to fix it in 30 days or their relationship with CMS would be over.

But in the documents, in what’s described as “CMS QA walks" that started Jan. 22, “a total of 91 beacons malfunctioned during QA; various issues with delays, not being able to clear alerts, tracking and other portal issues that will cause issues for CMS police.”

This week, Channel 9 asked the superintendent where things stood with Centegix, just over a week after he announced they were severing ties.

“We’re in the process of trying to recoup the funds that were already spent on the project,” said CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston.

CMS ditches million-dollar school security upgrade, claims it didn't work CMS ditches million-dollar school security upgrade, claims it didn't work

Centegix sent a statement to Channel 9:

“It is very difficult for the company to appropriately respond without having the benefit of reviewing the information.”

“We stand by the results of the testing conducted by CMS district personnel and live operational results. Our system works as promised, including 2 alerts that were initiated and successfully delivered the day after the district announced their decision to no longer use the solution.

“Since the summer of 2019, CMS has used the CrisisAlert solution to successfully deliver more than 1,800 testing alerts. Also, more than 50 live alerts that have been initiated at the four pilot schools since the November 2019 launch. These alerts included emergency incidents, lockdowns, modified lockdowns, weather alerts, medical emergencies, and physical altercations.

“The CENTEGIX solution is unique for its ability to deliver alert location accuracy, total campus coverage, immediate notification, and audio and visual alerting. The company’s CrisisAlert platform protects over 700 schools and 600,000 students and staff members, empowering first responders with actionable information and enabling them to respond faster in any emergency situation.”

A representative also said, “In the summer of 2019, CMS introduced our company to one of their preferred partners and from August 2019 forward, that partner has been in place to support the installation and maintenance of equipment.”

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