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Ithaca schools hold public hearing on 2024–25 safety plan; adoption deferred
Summary
The Ithaca City School District held a public hearing on its draft 2024–25 safety plan, outlining changes after New York State Education Department guidance on drills and after‑school visitor procedures. No adoption occurred; the plan will return to the board after a 30‑day comment period.
At a public hearing, the Ithaca City School District Board of Education heard a presentation on proposed changes to the district’s 2024–25 safety plan and invited public feedback; the board did not adopt the plan at the meeting and will consider adoption at a future board session after a 30‑day comment period.
Dr. Dan Bridal, who presented the draft, said the district made changes after receiving memos from the New York State Education Department. “This year, we received some we received a few memos from NYSED. On this past July, we received an amendment that in regard to safe schools planning and emergency drills,” Bridal said, and he summarized how that guidance affected the draft plan.
Bridal highlighted several concrete changes: when conducting lockdown drills the PA announcement should make clear to students that the event is a drill so it serves as a learning opportunity; evacuation (fire) drills may remain unannounced; drills should be scheduled on different days and times rather than clustered on a single day; and parents and caregivers must be notified one week ahead of certain drills. He also described a September NYSED memo requiring procedures for greeting and managing visitors at after‑school events and programming.
Bridal walked the board through the district’s “shell” document — an operational outline used in classrooms and school emergency procedures — and explained the acronym: “the shell … stands for shelter in place, hold in place, evacuate, lockout, and lockdown.” He said the district has added materials including threat‑assessment flowcharts, special education resources and a student page to the larger safety plan, which he described as a more than 100‑page document.
On law enforcement coordination, Bridal said the district has expanded partnerships: “we've worked with Captain Schwartz of IPD to also, help to provide a police officer connected to each school in the IPD area,” and the district has reached out to the sheriff’s office to connect officers to other schools as needed. He also noted the district safety team includes invited union representatives, a variety of teachers and law enforcement; Bridal said the team is reconvened if changes are required.
Board members and staff directed the public to submit comments during the 30‑day review window through the district’s Let’s Talk portal, direct email to board members or the board clerk, or by contacting Dr. Bridal. The board chair (unnamed in the transcript) said changes in the draft were highlighted for reviewers and reiterated that adoption would occur at a future meeting after the public comment period.
No members of the public spoke during the hearing; the chair closed the public hearing after stating, “Hearing nothing from the public. Thank you. We'll bring the public hearing to a close, and, we will await our next board meeting shortly.” The district will return the draft safety plan to a board agenda for formal consideration and possible adoption after the 30‑day period.
