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Westbury board approves updated districtwide school safety plan after public hearing
Summary
After a public hearing, the Westbury board unanimously adopted the district's 2025-26 school safety plan, highlighting panic-button systems, perimeter fencing, camera upgrades, AED access and training, and partnerships with private security and outside assessors.
At a Sept. 16 hearing, the Westbury Union Free School District presented and the Board of Education approved the districtwide school safety plan for the 2025-26 school year, following a presentation by Supervisor of Security Jennifer Doyle and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Rhonda Booth.
"Each year, school districts are required to present a draft safety plan, which then has to be approved by a board of education," Doyle said during her presentation. She described upgrades implemented since the 2024 plan, including new perimeter fencing, door alarm adjustments, strategic personal panic buttons and wall-mounted panic buttons, improved signage and blue lockdown lights visible inside and outside buildings, and expanded video surveillance and camera monitoring.
Doyle told the board the safety committee meets regularly and that the district had received an assessment from the National School Safety Council. The district described a partnership with a private security provider, Arrow Security, to staff security posts and with building principals to develop building-level emergency response plans. The presentation said staff training and drills include lockdown, lockout, shelter-in-place and situational tabletop exercises; trainings for students are described as trauma-informed and age-appropriate.
Superintendent Dr. Chase highlighted the district's statewide visibility on safety work and recounted an outside remark: "Alyssa's mother told us she had never seen a school district with all of the safety features that we have," he said, referring to the family that inspired Alyssa's Law. Dr. Chase added that the district measures progress against national guidance and seeks community partnership on mental-health reporting and prevention.
During public comment, resident Ray Ferguson urged wider camera coverage, repairs to cut fencing near school tennis courts and more overnight security patrols in parking areas. Isabella Hamilton Lomax asked about use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at off-site athletic events; district staff said coaches must hold current CPR/AED certification, portable AEDs are used for off-site events, and staff point out AED locations when traveling. Board staff also provided a contractor's schedule for school building vestibules: elementary vestibules estimated to complete by Jan. 30, 2026, and middle/high school vestibules targeted for about Feb. 15, 2026.
After the hearing the board voted to approve the plan. A motion to adopt the districtwide safety plan was moved and seconded on the record; trustees voted aye and the motion carried unanimously. The board will submit the approved plan to the New York State Education Department as required.
