Providing an orderly plan for dealing with emergencies is an important component of the management of schools within the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District.
Emergency situations can range from man-made problems, such as power outages, fires and bomb threats, to natural disasters like blizzards and floods. These situations may present highly dangerous situations or mere inconveniences.
Through careful planning, the effects of an emergency are mitigated, property damage is minimized and, most important, injury and death are avoided. Small problems remain small and do not escalate into catastrophes. Finally, the situation can be brought back to normal quickly and efficiently.
The district maintains a public School District Safety Plan and confidential building-level School Safety Plans, in accordance with New York state’s Safe Schools Against Violence in Education (S.A.V.E.) Law. The public district-level plan is always available for review on the district website and upon request in each school building.
Included within the plan is the district’s memorandum of understanding with the Town of DeWit Police Department for a full-time police officer to serve as the district’s school resource officer. The position will be based at Jamesville-DeWitt High School but will support staff and students in the district’s other four buildings as needed.
July 26 safety plan public hearing
The board plans to present the plan and hold a public hearing on the proposal at its July 26 board meeting. The district is accepting comments on the proposed 2021-22 District Safety Plan through Aug. 22. Comments on the plan may be sent to Superintendent Peter Smith at psmith@jd.cnyric.org.
The board anticipates voting on Aug. 23 whether to adopt the plan.