By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Students in Alabaster schools soon will be able to make anonymous tips to school officials in an attempt to prevent potential crisis situations, Alabaster School Board members announced during a Dec. 9 meeting.

During the meeting, the School Board voted unanimously to approve a contract with the Anonymous Alerts reporting system to launch the system in each of the city’s schools.

Through the program, the schools will offer Anonymous Alerts apps for Android and IOS phones, and will offer a web portal for students to submit anonymous tips and photos alerting school officials of incidents or suspicious activity.

“This is for student issues,” said School Board President Adam Moseley. “If there is bullying or anything they would like to report anonymously, this is where this would come into play.”

After the school system receives an anonymous tip through the service, the information will then be distributed to the proper school official to investigate or act on, if necessary.

“This is something that is long overdue,” Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers said after the meeting. “We need to have this in place so we can act on something before it becomes a crisis situation.”

To learn more about the program, visit AnonymousAlerts.com.