5142

Students

Student Safety

The Board of Education (Board) shall strive to build safe, supportive, and academically challenging school learning environments in partnership with students, staff members and families.  The Board shall develop and adopt a mission statement that promotes a safe and secure environment for learning. Such mission statement shall emphasize respect, caring, and high academic achievement.

The Board shall ensure that all facilities, grounds, equipment, and vehicles meet acceptable injury and violence prevention standards for design, installation, use and maintenance.

Student safety shall be a priority of all school district personnel through close supervision of students in all school buildings and grounds and through special attention to:

1.  Maintenance of safe school environments through conducting regular safety vulnerability and hazard assessments of all school facilities, school grounds, sports-related equipment and vehicles used to transport students.  Security and vulnerability assessments shall be conducted every two years, resulting in a school safety plan for each school, based upon the assessment results.

2.  Safe practices by school personnel and students – particularly in instructional areas or in extracurricular activities presenting special hazards.

3.  Development of school programs and activities consistent with appropriate abilities and limitations of students at each age level.

4.  Offering safety education to students germane to particular subjects, such as laboratory courses in science, industrial arts, and health and physical education.

5.  Appropriate first aid care for students in case of accident or sudden illness.

6.  Adequacy of emergency response procedures at each school in the District (first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, infection control security).

7.  Development, adoption and implementation of a code of conduct and other appropriate rules that are designed to promote health and safety and prevent unintended injury, harassment, bullying and other forms of violence. Such code shall prohibit the use and possession of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and weapons and dangerous instruments at school.

8.  Training exercises for all school staff designed to help them maintain a positive climate for learning and to effectively enforce safety and discipline rules.

9.  Requiring the District and its individual schools to have safety and security plans which serve as a guide to address the various safety needs in the school, such as lockdown procedures, evacuations, drills and safety protocols, and personnel assignments. The school security and safety plan for each of the District’s schools shall annually be submitted to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

10.  Conducting regular audits (at least annually) to evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of each school’s safety and security plans. First responders, local law enforcement and the entire school community shall be involved in this process.  Law enforcement and local public safety officials shall evaluate all fire and crisis response drills.

11.  Communicating with parents/guardians and community members about school-level emergency preparedness protocols to the greatest extent possible.

12.  Providing regular training for all school employees on the Districts’ school emergency management systems and protocols, as well as violence prevention training.

13.  Creating a partnership between schools, local law enforcement and appropriate community agencies, including mental health, to prevent and reduce school violence.

14.  Establishing a school security and safety committee at each school. Such committee shall be responsible for assisting in the development of the school’s security and safety plan and administering such plan.

15.  Assistance of the safe school climate committee at each school, originally established to address issues related to bullying in the school, to also collect, evaluate, and report information relating to instances of disturbing or threatening behavior that may not meet the statutory definition of bullying.

Optional language:

The Board shall establish an advisory committee to review specific policies, regulation, plans and procedures in order to ensure a comprehensive and effective program to increase student and staff awareness of safety and health issues and to review emergency response procedures at each school in the district. Members of the safety committee shall include a Board member, the Superintendent of Schools or his/her designee, appropriate school personnel, a high school student, parents, law enforcement personnel, first responders and other community representatives. All members shall be appointed by the Board.

Firearm Safety Program

The Board may/shall offer a firearm safety program to students in grades kindergarten through grade 12. The program will utilize curriculum guides developed by the State Board of Education in consultation with the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. A written notification by the student’s parent/guardian shall be sufficient to exempt the student from such program in its entirety or from any portion thereof so specified by the parent/guardian.

(cf. 0100 - Mission Statement)

(cf. 5131/5144/5114 - Conduct/Discipline/Suspension/Expulsion)

(cf. 5131.21 - Terroristic Threats/Acts of Violent Behavior)

(cf. 5131.6 - Drugs/Alcohol and Tobacco)

(cf. 5131.7 - Weapons and Dangerous Instruments)

(cf. 5131.911 - Bullying/Safe School Climate Plan)

(cf. 5141.21 - Administering Medications)

(cf. 5141.22 - Communicable and Infectious Diseases)

(cf. 5141.3 - Student Health Assessments and Immunizations)

(cf. 5141.4 - Child Abuse and Neglect)

(cf. 5141.5 - Suicide Prevention)

(cf. 5141.6 - Crisis Management Plan)

(cf. 6142.1 - Family Life and Sex Education)

(cf. 6114 - Emergencies and Disaster Preparedness)

(cf. 6114.7 - Safe Schools)

(cf. 6114.8 - Pandemic/Epidemic Emergencies)

Legal Reference:  Connecticut General Statutes

10-220f Safety committee.

P.A. 13-3 An Act Concerning Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety (Sections 86, 87, 88)

P.A. 19-5 An Act Concerning the Safe Storage of Firearms in the Home and Firearm Safety Programs in Public Schools

Policy adopted: