Weekly Safety and Security Update
April 7, 2023
HCSD Weekly Safety and Security Update
Dear Hudson City School District community,
We continue to pursue new layers of safety and security in the Hudson City School District.
We are talking with experienced safety consulting firms and exploring an emergency alert system that will send notifications on several overlapping fronts at once. At the same time, we plan to apply for a grant for further safety measures, and will attend a state conference on formulating emergency response plans.
Before I provide details, I want to again commend the staff at Hudson Junior Senior High School who quickly defused a fight between two seventh graders and maintained control of the situation. No one was injured.
I deeply appreciate our staff members’ professionalism, quick thinking and devotion to our schools and students. I also express my appreciation to police officers who coincidentally were at the school pursuing another matter that originated outside of the school. Those officers also responded to support our staff members. Here are ways in which our safety and security initiatives continue to move forward:
- We plan to apply for a School Violence Prevention Program grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Grants are awarded for school safety programs and technology whose effectiveness are supported by evidence. The awards are intended to improve information sharing and interactions among school officials and local law enforcement, improve response time to threats and events, offer accurate identification of potentially dangerous situations and follow-up, increase knowledge of and use of community policing principles and increase school safety and sustainability planning efforts.
- We will be meeting with two companies highly experienced in providing school district safety and security strategies (Currently, our school district has a Safety Offering Service through Questar).
- Several other administrators and I were given a demonstration of a state-of-the-art phone and emergency alert system. The system integrates district telephones with software systems to instantly send notifications instantly to cell phones, computer screens and alarm systems. Our Safety Advisory Committee will continue to review various similar systems to compare pricing and features.
- The Safety Advisory Committee met March 30 and discussed long- and short-term goals, explored restorative vs. punitive discipline, identified themes raised in focus groups and other topics.
- On May 31 and June 1, several district administrators and I will attend the New York State Education Department’s 2023 School Safety Summit in Albany. The summit will provide training, information, and resources for developing and implementing an emergency response plan. The conference will also highlight many New York-based technical assistance centers with high-quality resources available to support districts in fostering safe schools.
These measures and strategies will continue to help us ensure that our schools are safe environments that foster students’ love of learning, exploration and discovery. As always, I urge you to share any suggestions, concerns and comments at safety@hudsoncsd.org.
Thank you for your partnership and investment in our students’ futures.
Dr. Lisamarie Spindler
Superintendent of Schools
Hudson City School District