10,000 Cell Phones Donated for Teachers to Use in Emergencies

Responding to the recent shooting tragedy at a Colorado high school, Gov. Gray Davis announced an agreement Tuesday that will provide 10,000 donated cellular phones for California high school teachers to use in emergencies.

The donation by AirTouch Cellular at Davis’ request is expected to provide wireless phone service for nearly every high school classroom in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange and Sacramento counties.

The phones will be programmed to reach law enforcement authorities or school emergency personnel at the touch of a button. They will be unusable for other types of calls.

“This will provide a long overdue lifeline between teachers and law enforcement,” Davis said at a news conference. “In this day and age . . . a simple cellular phone can mean the difference between tragedy and the avoidance of tragedy.”

Emergency communication systems in public classrooms have been considered by state legislators for years. But until now, the cost has been a deterrent in all but a few schools.

Days after two Colorado students shot and killed a dozen classmates and a teacher April 21, Davis convened a meeting of law enforcement and education officials to discuss precautions. One top issue was emergency communication systems for teachers or students to immediately alert law enforcement authorities from their classrooms.

Survivors of the Colorado tragedy complained about the difficulties caused by lack of classroom communication equipment. Davis was told that most California schools are in similar straits.

Officials said the AirTouch donation has a market value of about $1 million for the equipment and about $2 million per year for the connection charges. The company has agreed to pay connection charges for three years.

In many cases, Davis said, the phones would be programmed to alert a county sheriff’s dispatcher. But he said local school officials would also have discretion to direct the emergency calls to other agencies or school personnel.

The governor listed about half a dozen other wireless companies he plans to ask for similar assistance for other areas of the state.

Aides to the governor said he contacted AirTouch Cellular first because it is a California company and among the state’s largest providers of wireless phone service.

Davis aides also said the announcement was evidence of the governor’s frequently stated intent to seek a partnership with private companies to resolve some of the state’s most serious problems--particularly regarding schools.