CCR-1 Keeping Emergency App, But Issues Remain

The Crawford County R-1 School District still has access to a mobile app that connects to Crawford County 911 and first responders, but Superintendent Dr. Kyle Gibbs said there are still issues to resolve.

During the school board’s June meeting, Gibbs and school board members openly questioned whether they should continue using Rave.

Rave has been used at Bourbon since 2019, but Gibbs said usage has been going down every year. 

“Nothing has really changed regarding this,” Gibbs said in an email to the Independent News. “We still have access to it as 911 is keeping it in place.”

Gibbs said he doesn’t believe the other districts in the county “are really on board with the use of it.” 

In June, Gibbs told the school board Bourbon “was the poster child” for using the app when it was introduced in 2019. Cuba and Steelville barely used it.

Gibbs said he met with 911 Director Brad England over the summer and they agreed all groups involved “need to come together regarding this resource and be sure all individuals responsible for using it and responding in an emergency are properly trained.”

Bourbon pays $2,200 per year, which Gibbs said in June “doesn’t break the bank,” but it could be hard to justify paying for if it’s not used.

Former Bourbon Elementary principal Joe Obermark said it was mostly used as an internal communications tool at that campus.

The middle school and high school campuses almost never use the app.

There are issues in the app with unnecessary notifications, along with one wrong push of a button activating nearly every first responder in the area.