May
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April 2009 – Safe Schools
May 5, 2009 | | 4 Comments
Safe Schools
As part of the new Safe Schools Initiative during the past school year, a Risk Assessment was conducted of all five (5) district buildings. During this risk assessment, a variety of suggestions were provided back to the district on things that could be implemented to improve the overall safety of the buildings. Some of the suggestions were easy to implement and others were extremely costly to the district.
Even though the district buildings are safe, there is always an opportunity to analyze and look for continued improvements for the safety of the students, teachers, support staff and administration. Safety is always discussed with parents in a variety of areas. One is during the dinner meetings with the school board and parents that are held yearly at each elementary building. Parents have responded that they feel their elementary child is safe within the school during the school day. Middle and High School students are asked a similar question when they have breakfast with the board. Students have often commented on how difficult it is to enter the district building. Overall students and parents feel safe within the buildings that their sons or daughters are sent to on a daily basis.
As part of the Risk Assessment, one area that the district will begin to address that will need cooperation and collaboration from community members will be visitors in the coming school year. Starting in August of 2009, the district will be requiring any visitors entering district buildings to produce a photo identification to enter the building (such as driver’s license, work ID badge, etc. – items of this nature would suffice). The secretaries will ask to see this particular item before granting entrance to the building to that individual. Once the photo ID is shown, the individual will still need to sign in and log the time they entered the building and who they are visiting, as has been done traditionally within the district.
This additional layer in the process will allow the district to continue to be vigilant in providing a safe environment for students, faculty, and staff during the course of their instructional time in the school year.
In order to prepare secretaries for this process, there will be an orientation for them this summer to review the new procedures and protocol, and signs will be placed at the doors to notify visitors to have this information available in order to enter the buildings.
Again, this is just one step of many which can be taken to improve the overall safety of the district buildings.
Comments
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I think that the district should be more worried as to what happens in the school rather than who is getting in. As I have walked in the school, I have noticed police officers as well as probation officers, I wasnt sure if I was walking into a high school or a detention center!!!
The school district needs to be concerned about the movement of students within the school as well as those individuals trying to gain access to the school. Having the SRO and PO in the school affords the school the opportunity to protect students during the course of the school day. It also allows for social interactions for the SRO and PO in a positive manner with students. If a student’s behavior would require the involvement of either of these individuals, it is an excellent asset to have them within the school to provide an immediate response to the situation in a timely manner.
I believe that our school needs to be more safe. There are quite a few fights over the course of this school year between the buildings. Also the fact that many kids have been expelled this year due to drug violations. Many other schools in the area have only had 1 or 2 kids expelled. We have had too many. This is a big concern for me.
The district is constantly working toward making the school safe. As for the number of expulsions for this school year, I feel this shows that the district is addressing these issues head-on in a manner that reinforces the need for school safety.