School Security

In light of the recent tragedies at schools in Colorado and Pennsylvania, it is appropriate to review our District Safety and Security procedures. It is our goal to provide a safe and caring environment for the children of our community. This is a very difficult task given the nature of the school and various groups that need to access the school buildings. I wanted to highlight the general procedures that are in place in the area of security. All buildings are locked during the school day. Each building is open until after the buses have arrived for the day and then the exterior doors are locked and remain so until after students are dismissed. During the school day, access to each building is by buzzer only. Our staff has been instructed to question each visitor as to the purpose of their visit and request identification if they are not recognized as a parent. Each building has video surveillance around the entry area that is monitored by office personnel.

To prepare for other emergencies that may occur during the school day, each building conducts drills for building evacuation for a fire situation, drills for taking cover and shelter in the event of a weather emergency, drills for evacuating the building due to a utility problem or other non-threatening event and also drills to lock down the building in the event of an emergency or intruder situation. We are also working on plans to deal with the eventuality of a pandemic of some sort.

In addition to these drills and other preparation, the District has developed emergency plans that are reviewed each year by local police and fire personnel. These local agencies have worked hard to support and assist us in providing a safe environment for children. You will also notice as you approach our buildings that all exit doors are numbered both inside and out to help emergency personnel identify locations in each building. The police and fire department also have site maps that we have prepared which locate and identify utility cut offs.

The safety of our children and school personnel is paramount to the District and we continue to monitor and modify our procedures constantly.