The District considers the safety of its students and staff to be of the utmost importance and is keenly aware of the evolving nature of threats to schools. As such, it will address those threats accordingly through appropriate emergency response planning. The District-wide school safety plan and the building-level emergency response plan will be designed to prevent or minimize the effects of serious violent incidents and emergencies and to facilitate the coordination of schools and the District with local and county resources in the event of these incidents or emergencies.
These plans will be reviewed by the appropriate team on at least an annual basis and updated as needed by September 1. Specifically, the Board will make each District-wide school safety plan available for public comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption. The District-wide school safety plans may only be adopted by the Board after at least one public hearing that provides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students, and any other interested parties. Additionally, the District-wide school safety plan will designate the Superintendent or designee as the chief emergency officer responsible for coordinating communication between school staff and law enforcement and first responders, and for ensuring staff understanding of this plan. Similarly, the Superintendent will be responsible for ensuring the completion and yearly updating of building-level emergency response plans.
District-Wide School Safety Plan
District-wide school safety plan means a comprehensive, multi-hazard school safety plan that covers all school buildings of the District, addresses crisis intervention, emergency response and management at the District level, and has the contents as prescribed in Education Law and Commissioner’s regulations.
The District-wide school safety plan will be developed by the District-wide school safety team. The District-wide team will include, but not be limited to, representatives of the Board, teacher, administrator, and parent organizations, school safety personnel, and other school personnel.
The plan will further address, among other items as set forth in Education Law and Commissioner’s regulations, how the District will respond to implied or direct threats of violence by students, teachers, other school personnel as well as visitors to the school, including threats by students against themselves (e.g. suicide).
Building-Level Emergency Response Plan
Building-level emergency response plan means a plan that addresses crisis intervention, emergency response and management at the building level and has the contents as prescribed in Education Law and Commissioner’s regulations. As part of this plan, the District will define the chain of command in a manner consistent with the National Incident Management System (NIMS)/Incident Command System (ICS).
The building-level emergency response plan will be developed by the building-level emergency response team. The building-level emergency response team is a building-specific team appointed by the building principal, in accordance with regulations or guidelines prescribed by the Board. The building-level team will include, but not be limited to, representatives of teacher, administrator, and parent organizations, school safety personnel and other school personnel, community members, law enforcement officials, fire officials, or other emergency response agencies, and any other representatives the Board deems appropriate.
Training Requirement
The District will submit certification to the New York State Education Department that all District and school staff have received annual training on the emergency response plan, and that this training included components on violence prevention and mental health. New employees hired after the start of the school year will receive training within 30 days of hire, or as part of the District’s existing new hire training program, whichever is sooner.
Filing/Disclosure Requirements
The District will file a copy of its District-wide school safety plan and any amendments with the Commissioner of Education no later than 30 days after its adoption. A copy of each building-level emergency response plan and any amendments will be filed with the appropriate local law enforcement agency and with the state police on or before October 15 each year. Building-level emergency response plans will be kept confidential and are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) or any other provision of law.
Homeland Security Presidential Directives – HSPD-5, HSPD-8 Homeland Security Act of 2002, 6 USC § 101
Education Law §§ 807, 2801-a Public Officers Law Article 6 8 NYCRR § 155.17
Adopted September 28, 2016