What has Newbury Elementary School done to increase safety and security for students, employees and school visitors?

Several years ago, our school began meeting regularly with members of the Town of Newbury Police, Fire and Emergency Management staff. We developed “emergency response plans” to help us determine in advance how to manage emergencies. Under the leadership of Police Chief/Emergency Management Director Roger Merry and Byfield Fire Chief Bill Pearson, a Newbury Elementary School “School Safety Committee” was formed. The goal of this committee was to strengthen school safety and security on the entire Newbury Elementary School campus. This committee has met regularly to determine how a core team of Newbury Elementary School staff will work with police, fire and emergency management personnel to manage and respond to a variety of school emergencies.

Since its inception, members of the Newbury Elementary School “School Safety Committee” have continued to meet regularly. We have implemented many new safety and security procedures at our school. Members of our School Safety Committee have participated in comprehensive school emergency management training programs led by national school safety experts, most recently from the I Love U Guys Foundation on Standard Response Protocol. We have trained all of our school staff on the Standard Response Protocol, which is a set of emergency response routines designed to respond to a variety of emergency situations. As we transition to these updated protocols, School Safety Committee will be training and implementing “mock drills” involving staff and students based on various scenarios, just as we have with previous protocols. Our school district has expanded our communication network capabilities throughout our school campus and within our regional school district to increase inter-operability to rapidly respond to a school emergency.

• Access Control – All after school and evening use of our school building is coordinated through a building use process. Unless there is a specific prescheduled program, our school building is locked during evening and weekend hours to prevent any unauthorized access.

• Building Access – Our Main Entrances are monitored during school hours. All other outside perimeter doors are kept locked during school hours to prevent unauthorized entry into our school building. Outside perimeter doors are regularly checked throughout the school day and after hours to make sure they are not left open.

• Identification Badges – All Newbury Elementary School staff have employee identification badges. In addition, school volunteers, substitute teachers and contract service providers are issued visitor badges. All visitors are directed to the main entrance where they sign in and receive their badge. School staff have been instructed to report anyone in the school building who does not follow these procedures.

• Staff Training – All staff have participated in School Safety Procedures training. All newly hired school employees are required to participate in this training. Additional training on safety procedures has been provided to members of the School Safety Committee, all teaching staff, custodial staff and cafeteria staff.