School Safety at ACSD

Family’s Role in School Safety

As caregivers, the most important thing you can do is to connect with your child. Support them to seek out a trusted adult if they need support or have concerns about another student’s safety. Our principals and counselors are always available to connect with you or your child.

DO: 

• Report, and encourage your child to report, any safety concern to a trusted school adult. Or submit a concern anonymously through the VT School Safety Tip Line online, or by calling 844-723-3488, or by texting Safe4VT to 274637.

• Ensure your contact information is updated with your child(ren)s school.

• Sign up for our text messaging system by texting “yes” to 67587. You will get a reply confirming your registration. If you ever want to stop receiving texts, just text STOP.

• Keep your phone close by for notifications and updates from the district. 

• Visit the ACSD District website, www.acsdvt.org, for official and confirmed school news alerts. 

• Rely only on official communication from the superintendent, principal and/or local emergency professionals.

• Allow first responders to manage an emergency situation. 

DO NOT:

• Call or rush to your child’s school (your presence could interfere with emergency responders).

• Rely on or share unofficial and unconfirmed news reports.

• Phone your child or school staff (this could impact resources, communication, and others’ safety).

Talking to your child about school safety

It can be hard to know how to talk to your child about school safety, but it is important for all of us to be informed and have our questions answered. Your guidance counselor is always a resource for supporting your children.  Here are some additional resources that may be helpful to talk to your children about school safety:

• Talking to your Children About Safety, Johns Hopkins

• Talking to Children about Violence: Tips for Families and Educators, National Association of School Psychologists
   

Prevention Resources:

The best prevention to stop school crises is to build relationships, increase communication, and support our students every day. Here are some resources to help you support your child and the students in your community and talk to them when issues arise.

• https://www.stopbullying.gov/ 

• https://safeandsoundschools.org/

• https://www.dougy.org/ 

Communication in Emergencies: 

Communication is key to ensuring the safety of our students:

• We will do everything we can to keep parents informed during a school emergency using email, phone, texting, and our website depending on the situation.

• We do not reply on social media in school emergencies. 
• Please understand that there are some situations where our school or district does not communicate with you for various reasons. These include situations where it has been determined that a threat is a hoax or unsubstantiated. We understand school community members may be curious about the outcome of a threat, but ask that you understand that sometimes communication would violate confidentiality or cause more harm.
• If there is an internal or external event that triggers a lockdown, shelter-in-place, or evacuation, families will be informed asap by phone, text, email, and website updates.
• Please make sure our schools have updated contact information for you and visit the "Family's Role in School Safety" tab for more details about what you can do. 

Safety Training and Practices:

The goal in each safety practice is to help our students feel safe, calm, and empowered. We will practice a variety of emergency preparedness exercises throughout the year with guidance from the VT Agency of Education (AOE) and the Vermont School Safety Center. 

• The drills we practice include a variety of evacuation and options-based drills each year to help our staff and students prepare for a variety of emergency situations.  (Please find the 2024-45 Drill Guidance from the VT Agency of Education below).

• All schools are required, by statute, to conduct a minimum of 2 options-based response drills; 6 egress ("fire") or relocation drills; and 2 bus evacuation drills each year.

• Options-based drills introduce staff and students to various strategies in response to a threat, such as when to evacuate from the school or stay in a classroom. All Options-based drills are trauma informed and age appropriate. This means the drills are performed in a way that is sensitive to the emotional well-being of our students. No active threat “simulations” will occur. 

• All Options-based practices will be announced to staff and students in advance.  Families will be notified at least one day in advance to help support children with any questions at home. 

• All employees (including substitute teachers) are required to complete safety training. This year, staff were trained in Run Hide, Fight protocol.  At the recommendation of the VT Agency of Education and U.S. Department of Homeland Security and F.B.I., all Vermont schools are transitioning from A.L.I.C.E. RHF emphasizes situational awareness and empowers adults in the building to use information around them to make the most appropriate decision based on the nature of the threat. 

• ACSD’s leaders are trained in the Vermont School Crisis Guide. Additionally, in the summer of 2024, across-district team of ACSD leaders attended a FEMA training to further our knowledge and best practices in school safety.

• Each school has an identified Crisis Team and we are continually working to improve our Emergency Operations Plan for each school, which is reviewed by our Director of Facilities and shared with local emergency management professionals.

• We have a cross-district ACSD School Safety Team that meets regularly to identify additional needs or changes that would increase building security and school safety.

• We communicate and work with emergency responders across the county to support inter-agency leadership in the event of a school crisis.

• Our principals and guidance counselors are always available to support parents or students who have additional questions.

 

2024/2025 Emergency Drill Schedule Guidance from the VT Agency of Education for Vermont Public Schools.

September:
* Required Egress Drill
* Options Based Drill (Strongly recommended for Sept, required once in the fall semester)
* Bus Evacuation Drill (Strongly recommended for Sept, required once in the fall semester)

October:
* Required Egress Drill

November:
No drills required

December:
* Required either Egress or Relocation

January: 
* Options Based Drill (Strongly recommended for January, required once in the spring semester)
* Bus Evacuation Drill (Strongly recommended for Sept, required once in the fall semester)

February: 
* Required either Egress or Relocation

March: 
No drills required

April
* Required either Egress or Relocation

May: 
No drills required

June:
* Required either Egress or Relocation

Building Security

• Each of our buildings has locked entrances that require authorized key fobs or a school employee to open doors for entrance.

• Each of our buildings has surveillance cameras, depending on the school, they are located in hallways and/or exterior.

• School administrators use a variety of internal communication systems including radios, text/phone to ensure rapid response to any crisis

• We have a strong relationship with the emergency personnel that cover our seven towns and a district School Resource Officer from Middlebury Police Department that works at with Mary Hogan, MUMS, and MUHS and advises on our district safety team.

• Principals meet regularly with the Director of Facilities to review the physical safety measures and any concerns that arise. 

• We continue to fund safety improvements to our buildings and utilize safety audits to determine areas for future investment.

Emergency Response Protocol Overview:

Each crisis event is unique, and the trainings above are intended to ensure every staff member is able to respond in the safest method possible after assessing the threat. The responsibility for the safety and security of our schools is a shared responsibility between the School board, administration, faculty, staff, students, families, community responders, and partners. Each party has a role to play in an emergency.

Each school has an Emergency Operating Plan and Risk Assessment Protocol that lays out specific protocols for responding to each type of emergency.  Each Plan includes: 

1. An initial risk assessment

2. A response or safety plan 

3. Connecting with/requesting support of local law enforcement or community partners 

4. Communication about the situation to individuals involved, a portion of our school or greater community

5. Reparative and restorative practices with individuals, classrooms, schools, or our entire learning community 

Universal Commands

In the event of an emergency at your child's school, it is important to know the reasoning behind the response and the terms associated with it. A school crisis can take a number of different forms including a weather emergency, an environmental event, a dangerous event in the immediate area, or a safety concern at the school. You may hear your child refer to the following terms, or universal crisis commands, which our schools use in response to many different situations: 

• Clear the Halls: This command is used if something is happening in our hallways and staff or outside personnel need space or privacy to resolve the incident. Students may be asked to return to their classroom or go to the nearest room with an adult.

• Secure: This command is used if there is a hazard or safety concern outside of our building. The command brings all students inside the building and into their classrooms. Any instruction and activity in class can proceed.

• Evacuate: This command is used if there is a need to move students from one location to another. Everyone waits for directions to re-enter the building or relocate to an off-site location.

• Lockdown: This command is used if there is a hazard or threat within the building. After the Lockdown command, staff may initiate the ALICE protocol based on situational awareness.