Parents around the country have indicated that their primary concern
today, educational programs notwithstanding, is the safety and security
of their children while at school. This concern is a direct result of
the kinds of incidents experienced at Columbine High School in Colorado
and other schools across the United States, as well as the terrorist
attacks on America on September 11, 2001.
Much has been written about those incidents and the steps taken by
individual school districts to maintain the health and safety of
students and staff. After September 11, we at Pennsbury were asked: "Can
you guarantee that something like Columbine or the World Trade Center
attacks won't happen here?"
The true answer is that no one can make such a guarantee. However,
long before the questions arose, Pennsbury was busy taking steps to make
the school environment as safe as possible. Over two years ago, the
District received more than $102,000 as part of a Safe Schools grant
awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Those funds allowed Pennsbury to:
- Install 16 security surveillance cameras and a multiplex recorder
in Pennsbury High School (East and West) to increase security and track
visitors.
- Give key administrators direct contact with principals and
each other through Nextell Communications Systems when quick decisions
are required for student and staff safety. The units operate as phones,
pagers and walkie-talkies.
- Train four teams of elementary school personnel in peer mediation and conflict resolution techniques.
- Train ten staff members in three buildings in the Responsive
Classroom program, which provides students with an opportunity to
develop problem solving skills and peaceful resolutions to potential
conflicts.
The District also has outfitted school buses with cameras, which
record activity inside buses. The cameras have reduced the number of
incidents taking place on buses dramatically.
Finally, the District has in place a Crisis Response Plan which
provides information on how to handle everything from an armed intruder
in the building to natural disasters, medical emergencies, bomb threats
and the like.
The Crisis Response Plan is on every administrator's and secretary's desk and is routinely reviewed and updated.
Anyone with questions regarding school safety and security should call the Office of Pupil Services at 215-428-4181.