Centegix: AI, data and wearables drive next generation of K-12 security

ATLANTA – From artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled security systems and wearable panic buttons to incident analytics that help identify emerging risks, the K-12 safety landscape is evolving rapidly, says Dr. Roderick Sams, chief development officer at CENTEGIX, which recently published its 2026 School Safety Trends Report.

Sams, a former educator, spoke with Security Systems News recently about the ways in which data is enabling schools to take a more proactive approach to safety, the need to move safety beyond the classroom and why “safer schools are better schools.”

Security Systems News: What is the biggest shift you’ve seen in K-12 security over the last year?

Dr. Roderick Sams: I think we’re starting to see more and more integrations more specifically around AI technology. If you think of camera integrations where AI technology is being infused, it's also being infused in other types of technologies like access control and some other things, so the logic of AI is becoming more and more a part of the safety ecosystem.

SSN: Data is also exploding. How are schools using data to make campuses safer?

Sams: Data is being used at a much higher level in safety than ever before, primarily because of access to the information. (In our system), every time an alert is initiated by a staff member or in the case of an integration by a camera or some other technology, it has to be closed by a responder.

Each of those alerts has to be closed by a responder. And we have a list of specific reasons. It could be a physical altercation, it could be classroom disruption, it could be school disruption, it could be medical, so there's all these different reasons.

Once that alert is closed with a reason, that becomes a data point. And so now you can start capturing all these individual data points by incident type, by location, by person. You can start seeing frequency of data based on certain days of the week, etc. There could be reasons why (for example), we see more disruptions at X school on Thursdays. Maybe we need more key people supervising on Thursday. There’s a lot of proactive measures we can take because data is informing those decisions.

SSN: According to the report, 58% of incidents happen outside of the classroom, and wearable panic button use increased 31%. What do those trends tell us about how schools are approaching emergency response?

Sams: We get horrific stories of situations that happen, whether it's in the parking lot of a school or whether it's on a playground. (Even in a) cafeteria, places where having a fixed wall button or even a response system that only works in certain areas of a school where there's classroom or wherever, it is really not providing every staff member with the ability to get help no matter where they are on a campus. And that is really, really at the centerpiece of how we were developed and designed. We don't want limitations of location.

Can you call for help if you don't have access to your phone? And then, of course, your phone relies on signal strength, whether it's Wi-Fi or cellular. Unfortunately, in a lot of schools, Wi-Fi and cellular strength is a challenge. So wearables create the opportunity for all of those gaps to be closed. One, everyone has access. It's wearable. It's on your neck. It's easily accessed, right? That's number one. Number 2, it doesn't rely on Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.

SSN: As a former educator, does school safety hit close to home for you?

Sams: This is passion work. I believe safer schools are better schools. If we can create a culture where everyone feels like that can operate at their highest levels every day, you’ll have a much better outcome, much better schools, much better communities and much better people.