Greece Central presents updated districtwide safety plan; weapons-detection rollout described as successful

Casey Voekel, director of school safety and security for Greece Central School District, presented a yearly update to the districtwide safety plan and said the plan will be posted on the district website for no less than 30 days for public review before the Board of Education considers adopting it.

Nut graf: The presentation summarized changes required or recommended by New York State, clarified how building-level emergency response plans relate to the district plan, and described the phased rollout of weapon-detection equipment at several district schools. The district noted new language to align with state trauma-informed training requirements and a change in terminology from “lockout” to “secure lockout.”

Voekel said the district updates the districtwide safety plan annually to comply with New York State Education Department requirements and that this year’s changes were largely minor and compliance-driven. “We were kind of ahead of the curve last year,” Voekel said, and added that the current plan “does meet all New York State Ed Commissioner regulations.” He said the plan will be posted on the district website for public review and then submitted for adoption by the board, likely next month.

The district plan is broad and intended to be separate from building-level emergency response plans, Voekel said. Building-level plans will be shared with each school’s safety team and are due in October; those plans will be submitted through the state portal and to the state police, he said.

Voekel described several specific updates: the plan now notes the district’s use of weapon-detection systems, adds an additional parent-notification method (school newsletters) for announcing upcoming drills, and includes compliance language for full-scale exercises. On notification of drills, the district said principals may note in newsletters that drills will occur within the coming week but must not disclose specific dates or times.

On full-scale exercises involving outside responders, Voekel said the state requires trauma-informed training; such exercises cannot be conducted while school is in session or during after-school activities, and written parental consent would be required for students to participate.

Voekel discussed the weapon-detection rollout: the equipment has been installed at two schools so far — Arcadia and Olympia — and will be installed at Athena and Odyssey at the start of next school year. He said staff adjusted entry layouts at Olympia after the first days of use to improve flow and that, after initial acclimation, students moved through the process more smoothly. “I think it’s been [a] smashing success,” Voekel said of the initial rollout, adding that he has seen no operating errors or interface problems with the equipment.

Board members asked about supports for students who may experience distress during drills. Voekel said building staff identify students who might have difficulty processing drills and assign a staff or mental-health provider to be with those students; he said staff typically give advance warning the day of a drill so students are not startled. He added that the state’s trauma-informed training requirement formalizes practices the district has already been using.

No formal vote on the districtwide safety plan occurred at the meeting; the plan will be posted for public review and brought back to the board for potential adoption after the public comment period.

Ending: The district did not provide a dollar amount for the weapon-detection equipment or specific vendor information during the presentation. The board was told building-level plans will be filed in October and sent through the state portal to the state police, and that the posted draft will remain on the district website during the public-review period.