Safety & Security

Overview

The Manager of Safety and Security works with staff members across the District to provide the safest environment possible for all students, staff and visitors in our buildings. This is accomplished through continual training, planning and striving to align security procedures with the most current standards. While our schools are equipped with security technology including controlled access and surveillance cameras, it is important for our staff, students and families to be aware of our current safety and security procedures.

Avon Grove School District (AGSD) values the input of our community stakeholders. If you have a question or concern about security practices and/or procedures, please send an email to our Safety and Security Manager, Chrissy Simpkins.

Safety and Security Responsibilities

Staff members follow safety and security protocols, model safety and security behaviors, reinforce behavior expectations and provide behavior interventions. Staff members also plan and conduct emergency drills, participate in safety committees, and collaborate with District personnel and community members to provide safe and secure learning environments. Staff members also know how to identify potential safety and security threats and immediately report such concerns to school administration.

Students play a critical role in maintaining safe and secure schools. Students should follow all directions during emergency drills. Students should be willing to talk with parents, teachers, school counselors, school administrators and police when they have concerns about their own safety or the safety of others. Students should also practice positive interpersonal relationship skills to help sustain a safe and secure learning environment and to promote social competence.

Parents should be knowledgeable about safety and security procedures at their student's school. Parents should reinforce and support school behavior expectations and should participate in safety and security discussions at meetings. Parents should be able to identify potential threats to the safety and security of their student(s) and report concerns to school administration and/or police without delay.

Community members, including members of law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services, work to collaborate with school officials to develop emergency response protocols.

Safety and Security Resources

Behavioral Threat Assessment

Pennsylvania School Code requires each school entity to establish a Threat Assessment Team. A threat assessment is a prevention strategy and fact-based process for the assessment of and intervention with students whose behaviors may indicate a threat to the safety of the student, other students, school employees, school facilities, the community or others.

The key responsibilities of the Threat Assessment Team include: provide information/materials for students, school employees, and parents/guardians; assess and respond to reports of threats from varying resources; and make appropriate determinations, referrals and notices.

Crisis Go

AGSD is working toward implementing Crisis Go, a safety platform application that will allow schools to increase safety standards through tools that provide advanced emergency notifications, improve response, grant staff instant access to safety information, and spread safety awareness. By using Crisis Go as part of our emergency communication and safety protocols, AGSD can obtain a single line of emergency communication that could be accessed by all staff, from any location, and maintain a backup communication channel.

Emergency Operations Plan

AGSD is committed to creating a safe, supportive, and welcoming learning environment for all students. This emphasis has resulted in a Comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan that addresses the safety and security of students.

AGSD is dedicated to continuous improvement when it comes to how the District approaches the safety and security of our community. That means that our procedures and safeguards are constantly subject to updates and expansions in accordance with best practices.

The Emergency Operations Plan is reviewed on an annual basis. This document contains plans and procedures for all potential threats and hazards and dictates what should happen before, during and after an emergency.

READY ChesCo

READY ChesCo

READY ChesCo is Chester County's official source for emergency information and registration is FREE!

READY ChesCo is used to notify you during a major crisis or emergency and delivers important alerts such as weather or community alerts.

You can receive notifications and updates on all or some of your devices:

E-mail (work or home)
Cell phone via voice, text or both
Smartphone

Safe2Say Something

Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention program, run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, that is designed to teach youth and adults how to recognize the warning signs and signals from individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and to "say something" before it is too late.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 44 in 2018, which mandates the establishment of Safe2Say Something by every school district in Pennsylvania, and the training of all school district personnel, as well as students in grades 6-12.

There are three ways to submit an anonymous tip:

Call the Tip Line: 1-844-SAF2SAY (1-844-723-2729)
Use the Website: www.safe2saypa.org
Download/use the Mobile App

How Safe2Say Something Works:

An anonymous tip is submitted via the mobile app, website or phone call to the Safe2Say Something Crisis Center.
Crisis Center analysts vet and triage the tip, then engage the tipster in anonymous two-way chat in order to provide detailed and immediately actionable information to schools and dispatch.
Crisis Center analysts deliver the tip to the impacted school and as needed, to local law enforcement via 911 County Dispatch.
The school and, as needed, local law enforcement, assess and intervene with the at-risk individual.
The school then closes out the tip and reports action taken as a record for their school.
Avon Grove School District also encourages students and parents to immediately report any issues of concern to District personnel when someone sees or hears something that would pose a threat to others or the school. This direct reporting is a key piece to promote and maintain a safe school environment. Speaking to school personnel will trigger an immediate investigation of the concern.

School Visitors/Raptor System

School Visitors/Raptor System

Avon Grove School District has implemented an electronic visitor screening system by Raptor Technologies. All school visitors are required to produce their valid state issued ID to be scanned through our Raptor system at each school building. A visitor ID will be printed through the Raptor system and must be worn at all times during the visit. The system screens for persons who should not have access to a school and alerts administration if an unauthorized person attempts to visit one of our schools.