In the South Orangetown Central School District, student and staff safety is our first priority. When an emergency occurs, school officials evaluate the seriousness of the situation and determine the best plan of action to respond quickly, safely and appropriately.

Families also play an important role in prevention, preparedness and response. We need your support so that our school district can respond quickly, safely and appropriately in the event of an emergency.

Resources

• Parent Guide to School Safety 2020-21 (October 2020)
• 2020-21 District-Wide School Safety Plan
• Emergency Communications (January 14, 2019): Summary | Slides
• Building a Family Emergency Plan & District Emergency Preparedness Procedures (December 17, 2018): Summary | Slides
• FEMA: Making a Family Emergency Plan

Emergency Preparedness

• Each of our schools has a unique critical incident plan specific to the staff, the facility and the students in that school.
• District-wide and building-level safety teams are trained to implement detailed emergency plans focused on prevention, preparation and response.
• Each building conducts at least 15 safety drills a year.
• Our district works closely with local law enforcement and other first responders to ensure that our school safety plans are effective and up-to-date.
• Specific details of SOCSD safety plans and evacuation locations are not made public so as not to jeopardize the efficiency of the plans or the safety of students and staff.

Family Preparedness

• Ensure your child’s school has up-to-date phone numbers, email and street addresses for you and all emergency contacts.
• Add “[email protected]” to your email contacts list and designate this email address as a trusted or “safe” sender to ensure that you receive SchoolMessenger emails.
• Have a family emergency plan and be sure that you have an alternate child care provider in place and listed as an emergency contact in your child’s record in the event of an early dismissal. Students may only be released to a parent or emergency contact designated for student release. Photo identification is required.
• Wait for information from SOCSD rather than rush to a site.
• Only share information received through official communications channels on social media. Be aware that students and people outside our community are members of local social media groups.
• Reach out to your child’s school to access resources. It is important that students feel safe at school, especially after a crisis. Should there be a need, SOCSD will provide support services to students and/or staff.