District Safety Plan

• Administrators attend annual training with local law enforcement to learn updated and current best practices related to keeping schools as safe as possible

• Our administrators train our building staff on school safety practices including the response to a violent critical incident to be alert, lockdown, be as informed as possible of the situation, counter attack if needed, and/or evacuate to safety

• Each fall we have safety week that is communicated to families in which we practice and implement our procedures and best practices. All drills are announced in advance and as part of the drills, students learn about age appropriate safety information and about reunification sites in case of an emergency evacuation.

• Throughout the school year and during summer school, drills are regularly and strategically practiced in collaboration with local law enforcement and emergency personnel.

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• Evacuation and fire drills

• Hold In Place drill

• Barricading practice drill

• Evacuation and reunification drill

• Shelter in Place for Severe Weather drill

• Go Home Early drill

Drills are practiced with blocked exits (to cause staff and students to think and react quickly), at various times of the day, and throughout the school year. Many drills are practiced at the start of the school year during safety week.

• Magnetic Hold Doors - Many classrooms already have these and all of our classrooms will after the capital project is complete. In an emergency situation, the magnet releases the door and doors close automatically.

• Badge/Remote Locking - Administrators and District Office Personnel can automatically and remotely lock down all buildings and classrooms with their badge or by using an App on their phone.

• Push Button Locking - Staff can lock their classroom door simply by pushing a button inside their classroom. They do not need to open their classroom door nor use a key to do so.

• Capital Project Safety Focus - We are working through all of our corridors and classroom doors, replacing them with modern, impact resistant and much safer designed door systems.

• School Resource Officers - We now have two School Resource Officers. One of whom is full time and the other is part time (6 hours per day). 

• Raptor System - Whenever a visitor signs into a building, they must scan their ID through our Raptor System which runs a background check and alerts building and district administration immediately if there is any reason they are not permitted on campus or to be around children.

• Staffed Secured Vestibule Entry at Primary, Elementary, Middle, and Academy - In each of these entry locations, we have a staff member in a double locked, secured vestibule to receive visitors.

• Secured Entry at the Canandaigua Academic and Career Center - At our alternative school we have secured/locked entry which a staff member has to grant entry for visitors.

• Broad Interior and Exterior Cameras on All District Campuses/Facilities

• Landscaping for Safety - We have strategically removed shrubs, trees, and landscaping to offer better lines of sight.

• Classroom Furniture Design / Setup - Staff have strategically organized their classrooms with heavy furniture near their doors in case they need to quickly barricade their rooms. We practice barricading rooms several times per year and our students and staff have become very proficient at it. Police even try to force entry into the rooms during drills and they remark how good the staff and students are at this.

• District and Building Health and Safety Committees - Every building has a health and safety committee comprised of various staff. They meet monthly to discuss items related to health and safety in their buildings and they guide any adjustments we make on an ongoing basis.

• ParentSquare Communication System (with emergency alert capabilities) - The Canandaigua City School District was the first district to implement this one stop communication system in the state of New York just over two years ago. At most recent check, over 40% of districts in NYS are now using it. It allows us to send immediate emergency alerts to staff, students, and families. And as you’ve come to discover, it has many more capabilities.

• The Canandaigua City School District was one of the first districts in the region to implement a BIT team and we are so fortunate to have the coordination and expertise of area agencies join us to keep safety and support for families at the forefront.

• The BIT team includes members of the Canandaigua City School District, the Canandaigua Police Department, Ontario County Mental Health, Ontario County Juvenile and Adult Probation, Child Protective Services, and the Finger Lakes Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP).

• The District Behavior Intervention Team meets every two weeks to assess the likelihood of violence through recognition of violence risk accelerators, risk inhibitors, and behaviors consistent with a pathway to goal-directed violence.

• BIT team members participate in a three day initial training with continual refresher/update trainings by a nationally recognized expert.

• The group works to discuss motivations for violence, develop strategies for risk reduction and care, implement strategies to support the student in need, re-evaluate the threat and balance the subject of the assessment with the needs of the school community.

• Building level BIT Teams investigate incidence of possible threats. When a threat is determined, the team brings people together to work in a collaborative effort to reduce targeted violence and to evaluate the legitimacy of threats and determine the best next steps. Oftentimes this includes home visits by a police officer and/or district personnel.

• The overall approach is working together to be proactive and restorative. We want to ensure safety while simultaneously give people the support they need.

• Canandaigua City School District Mental Health Page / Team
• Family Support Center - FREE, confidential, short-term counseling support for district students and their families on our campus with our staff.
• Ongoing partnerships with Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes, FLACRA, the Partnership for Ontario County, the Center for Dispute Settlement, the Ontario County Department of Mental Health, Family Counseling Services of the Finger Lakes, and more.
• Co-located mental health services on our campus weekly. This helps families and students receive the mental health support they need without the challenges of taking time off of work, missing significant school time, and trying to arrange transportation, all of which are realized burdens for families. This is a pilot program and we are first school in the county to do this. It has been very successful and there is now a large waiting list for these services. We are working with partners to hopefully expand it for next year.

• If you see something, say something.
• Reporting any indication of a threat is crucial. Call your the helplines, report to your direct supervisors, call your child’s counselor or administrator and do not delay.
• Call 211 for mental health resources.
• Call 911 for emergencies.
• Click here for Resources and Ways to Report Concerning Behavior

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