A national youth violence prevention program aimed at better protecting schools was presented to charter school teachers across the western part of the state during a conference at Gray Stone Day School Tuesday morning.

Say Something Anonymous Reporting System allows students and teachers to confidentially report safety concerns to a command center, where the information will be investigated.

The system is designed to teach students, teachers, administrators and law enforcement how to recognize signs and signals of people who may be at risk and to anonymously report the information.

A person can submit his or her concerns on the mobile app, the website (saysomething.net) or the 24/7 hotline (1-844-5-SAYNOW).

The system will be introduced across the state starting in August, said Joe Maimone, chief of staff to Mark Johnson, the state school superintendent. The state legislature allocated $5 million in the state’s 2018 budget to fund the project, which is estimated to cost $650,000 a year, according to a recent News and Observer article.

Gray Stone Day School is still deciding whether to adopt the system.

“I am in the process of gathering more information so that I understand exactly how the system works before I adopt this system or another system,” said Helen Nance, chief administrative officer at the school.

Stanly County Schools, which uses the LobbyGuard system for identification and Anonymous Alerts for numerous reporting issues, has no immediate plans to switch to the Say Something system.

“Stanly County Schools felt security was paramount, so we reached out last year to a national company that has a track record of doing Say Something features and more,” Superintendent Dr. Jeff James said. “The cost is minimal and until Say Something data shows its impact we will not be changing systems at this time.”

North Carolina is partnering with Sandy Hook Promise, a national violence prevention organization and the developer of the system, to launch the program. It will be only the second state to implement the Say Something system behind Pennsylvania, Maimone said.

In addition to the reporting system, Sandy Hook Promise will also have trainings at schools to teach students the warning signs of people who might hurt themselves or others.

Contact Chris Miller at 704-982-2122.