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CUSD 200 presents annual school-safety update: PREPARE framework, SEL efforts and night-lock rollout
Summary
District 200 leaders told the school board May 14 that they are implementing the PREPARE safety framework alongside SEL programming, physical upgrades such as night-locks and expanded partnerships with local police and regional behavioral-health providers.
District 200 leaders delivered a wide-ranging school-safety update at the Board of Education’s May 14 meeting, describing their PREPARE-based framework for prevention and response, recent operational upgrades and next steps for the coming year.
Mister Biskin, who led the presentation with other staff, called the PREPARE model “the gold standard in school safety” and outlined how the framework organizes upstream prevention work, incident response and recovery. Staff emphasized that safety work blends social-emotional supports, procedural readiness and physical security measures.
On prevention, district staff highlighted social-emotional learning (SEL) and relationship-building as primary tools. A staff presenter cited district survey results showing 96% of students reported having a trusted adult in school and said extracurriculars raise connection: "When our kids are connected to school, when they have an adult that they consider someone who cares about them and cares about their learning, our emotional stressors decrease, safety increases," the presenter said.
Behavior metrics presented to the board showed that at grades 6–12 about 11% of students had one office referral and just over 2% had more than three referrals. Staff said those figures point to a small group needing more intensive supports while overall disciplinary data indicate a stable environment compared with recent years.
On physical security, the district reported installation of night-lock devices at elementary and middle schools and said high-school night-lock installs are planned for the coming summer. Staff explained night locks are a metal device staff can deploy to secure a classroom door quickly in a lockdown and that training will be repeated annually. The district said most designated doors already have card-swipe access and that swipe-configured doors can generate an alert if left ajar; however, not all doors across the district have that alert capability and staff said upgrading more doors would require additional funding.
Other measures detailed included PREPARE trainings for staff, annual ALICE trainings with local police, a district safety-and-security webpage, improved reporting and analytics for student concerns and use of the Verkada visitor-management system. Staff also noted partnerships with Wheaton Police and other local agencies, a district safety committee that meets monthly, and planned annex (mini-plan) work to develop procedures for specific incident types.
Trustees asked several operational questions: whether after-school (BASP) supervisors and short-term contracted workers receive training on night locks and lockdown procedures (staff said these contractors receive safety information at check-in but may not have full formal training for single-day assignments), and whether first responders have floor plans (police and fire do receive building floor plans). Board members also raised the topic of doors that lack electronic alerts; staff said many priority doors do have alerts and that adding alerts to additional doors is possible but requires capital funding.
The district described several next steps: finish high-school night-lock installations this summer, expand camera and swipe-door planning tied to middle-school capital projects, expand tier-1 behavioral programming and broaden student leadership feedback groups to elementary grades. Officials said they are exploring a partnership with a DuPage-area behavioral health center opening in August to provide short-term crisis support.
Board members praised the report and asked staff to continue returning annual May updates. Staff said they will provide additional data requested by trustees, including hospitalization counts and any emergent trends in disciplinary incidents.
What happens next: the district will proceed with the night-lock rollout at high schools this summer, continue the PREPARE and SEL programs, develop annex plans for specific crises and report back to the board on implementation progress.
