Yesterday, January 14, 2019, PA schools implemented a new anonymous tip line. Safe2Say Something is a result of a partnership between the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General and Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization begun by loved ones of the victims of the school shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut.

Safe2Say Something is an anonymous tip line that will be available 24/7/365 in all Pennsylvania schools for students in grades six through 12. Anyone can use the tip line to submit an anonymous tip regarding persons who may be a threat to themselves and/or others. To submit a tip, people can call the hotline at 1-844-SAF2SAY (1-844-723-2729) or on their own phone through the Safe2Say app.

Tips goes through the PA Attorney General’s Office, where they are evaluated. If the tip is life-threatening, it immediately referred to law enforcement. If a tip is not felt to be life-threatening, it is forwarded to a designated team within the school district(s) involved.

Some school districts have expressed concern over what they see as a lack of preparedness for the implementation of the program, and some have passed resolutions to that affect. However, according to a January  3, 2019 letter from the PA Attorney General’s Office to school districts, “The January 14, 2019, launch date is written into statute, and our office will be ready to receive, triage and forward all tips to school entities, and 911 dispatch as necessary, across the Commonwealth. These tips will save lives.” Safe2Say has begun accepting tips from Commonwealth students, but it still is “a work in progress,” said Joe Grace, spokesman for PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Of course, in addition to the tip line, students can always talk directly to a school staff member or police.