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of
violence, weapons, hazards, vandalism, and substance abuse. In fact, in our
FIRST in
FLORIDA strategic plan we have a goal that reads: By 2006, Brevard
County School
District will have safe, violence-free schools.
Now,
we know that we cannot guarantee safe schools 100% of the time. However, we
can be as proactive as possible to prepare for most situations should one
arise at our
schools. That is one of the reasons we have dedicated this Mark of
Excellence to the
issue of safety. It is all our responsibility – students, parents, teachers
and
administrators – to be sure we are doing everything we can to keep our
children safe
and secure.
Inside
this issue, you will read about a few of the initiatives we are currently
doing to
safeguard our schools. From bicycle safety to school bus safety, the tips
are intended
to give you a practical guide to teaching your children basic safety rules.
Events
such as the mock disaster drill with local law enforcement and first
responders
are important parts of our safety plans. This annual training for district
personnel and
administrators is primarily for hurricane/disaster planning and shelter
activation, but can
be used in other situations. We’ve had to use this training during 9-11 and
as recently
as four times last year for Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.
We
also regularly conduct an annual comprehensive
safety and security audits in every
school and we annually review and update school safety plans in accordance
with the
safe school standards. We have also implement district-designated safety and
security
programs including peer mediation, character education, anti-bullying, and
student-led
anti-violence groups.
Our
district has adopted a cooperative agreement between local law enforcement
agencies and the schools located within their jurisdiction for the purpose
of information
sharing and cooperative response to child-luring incidents. This has
resulted in better
information going to our schools to inform them if an incident occurs and a
description
of the individual so we can be attentive to what is happening near or around
our schools.
This
year we are focusing our efforts on major safety and security issues at the
school
level, including but not limited to, child luring, fingerprinting, sexual
predator and offender
issues, bicycle safety, traumatic incident response, and minimizing the
number of bomb
threats. We also intend to develop and implement a 5 Star Comprehensive
Review for
Safety and Security to be conducted in the 2006-2007 school year.
I hope
you will find the information in this issue to be of value to you and your
children.
We are in the business of serving each student with excellence as the
standard when it
comes to curriculum and instruction. We also want to be at the forefront of
their safety
as well.
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