National statistics continue to show that children are much more likely to be victims of violence in their own home or neighborhood than in school. But when shootings or other violent episodes do occur in schools around the country, parents can't help but wonder, "Is my school doing enough to protect kids?"

The truth is that Schalmont staff ask themselves the same question all the time: Are we doing enough? Have we hit the right balance between having schools that are open, friendly places to learn and having schools that are safe?

More than ever before, safety is an underlying theme in everything schools do. The past decade has seen a number of new state and federal safety mandates, plus higher parental expectations regarding safety. Here's a list of many of the things we do at Schalmont to ensure the safety of students and staff.

Strategic Safety Planning

• The district’s Safety Committee meets every other month (more often, if needed) to evaluate ALL aspects of school life that relate to safety. Whether the concern is air quality, construction safety, playground safety, or preparing for a flu epidemic, having a committee of teachers, parents, custodians and other staff take a comprehensive look at these issues together has been very beneficial. Several of the improvements listed below grew out of Safety Committee recommendations.

School Security

• All school staff wear photo ID badges daily, and under state law, all new staff (even substitutes) are fingerprinted and checked for criminal records, particularly any record of child abuse.
• During the school day, exterior doors are kept locked from the outside except for the main school entrance. All substitutes, volunteers and visitors entering the building must sign in and wear a temporary ID badge during school hours.
• School entrances have been set up to improve staff members' view of those entering their building. Some schools have security cameras at their entrance or other specific area. Some schools have hall monitors who sign in visitors and help monitor hallways and restrooms. The high school employs several security monitors with law enforcement experience to help supervise entrances, hallways, parking lots, and sporting events.
• As required by law, school computers use filtering software that protects pupils from inappropriate online material.

Physical Safety

• Parking lot improvements for greater safety have included adding security cameras. We have added traffic lines to separate bus and car traffic for safety.

• High school pupils who drive in an unsafe manner at school have their parking privileges taken away. Students who commit vandalism are made to pay for repairs to the school property they damaged. Teens that break the law at school are turned over to the police. This kind of firm response to inappropriate or unsafe behavior is a deterrent that sends a strong message to our students.

• All students get a copy of their school's Student Handbook, which includes a Code of Conduct spelling out rules for appropriate behavior and the consequences of inappropriate behavior. (Note:  for online copies of these, click on the specific school, then Student Handbook.)

Emergency Preparedness

• School staff use and practice the same Incident Command System of crisis management that is used by police and fire officials for better communication and cooperation during an emergency. We also follow the safety and security recommendations of the State Education Department related to federal Homeland Security Alert Levels.

• Schalmont staff members receive advice, training and safety updates from the Capital Region BOCES Risk Management Service. Thanks to the speed of email and the BOCES concept of local school districts working together on shared needs, Schalmont administrators are often informed about possible safety threats before these threats become public knowledge, which enables us to be better prepared.

• Copies of the Material Safety Data Sheets for all potentially hazardous substances used in each school can be viewed by contacting the school principal. Also available for public perusal in the district business office are the district's emergency preparedness plan, asbestos management plan, annual fire inspection reports, and the results of testing for radon in the air and lead in the water.

Community Safety

• Parents of Schalmont students are notified when the school district is notified by police that a registered sex offender has moved into or changed residency in the school district. Schools impacted by the change in residency send letters about the sex offender notice home with students. Information about the notice is also sent through the Schalmont School News Notifier as "district news." Signing up for this notification gives parents quick access to whatever information the district receives from the state or town police. In the main office of each school, copies of sex offender notices are kept in a binder and made available to the public.

• Community members also can find information on sex offenders at any time on the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services website.

Most importantly, our schools work hard to create an atmosphere in which everyone is responsible for safety and everyone will be listened to. No one wants schools that feel like a prison, but students, parents and all staff need to be safety conscious and to speak up whenever they spot a potential hazard. Continuing this dialogue can help us stay safe as our community grows and our society changes in future years. As this fall’s school shooting headlines have once again demonstrated, we really are all in this together.