Kingston City School District board adopts districtwide safety plan after presentation and public comment

Kingston City School District trustees voted at their meeting to adopt a districtwide safety plan after a presentation by district staff and an extended public-comment period.

District staff member Mr. Parker presented the plan and said it establishes the district-level policies that form the foundation for confidential, building-level emergency response plans. “The district plan focuses on policy requirements and regulations and is the foundation of the building level plans,” Parker said. He described the building-level plans as operational documents that outline how individuals will respond in a crisis and noted that the building documents are confidential.

The plan standardizes emergency terminology and drills, including terms such as shelter/shelter-in-place, hold/holding, evacuate, secure/lockout and lockdown, and addresses procedures for after-school events and visitor management. Parker told the board the drilling language had been “simplified for clarity” and explained that drills during large assemblies may be waived when instructions on procedures are provided in advance. The presentation noted nine public comments were received on the draft.

Why it matters: the district plan sets policy requirements that schools must use to develop building-level emergency procedures, and it includes new, standardized language and training requirements the district will use across schools. The plan also frames how the district will collect and use information that could affect student disciplinary outcomes and law enforcement interactions.

Public commenters urged stronger data and transparency requirements. One resident who addressed the board said the plan lacked a requirement to collect and use disaggregated, de-identified data on contacts between students and school resource officers (SROs), arrests, suspensions and referrals, and asked that the plan require baseline data and biannual reporting. The commenter said detailed, disaggregated data are necessary to identify whether particular student groups — including students of color, LGBTQ students and students with disabilities — are disproportionately affected.

“Without the disaggregation of data, we have to assume that we’re causing unintentional harm until we know better,” the resident said during public comment (resident identified in the transcript as a member of the public).

District staff and board members responded that data collection efforts are underway. Dr. Collins told the board the district had begun collecting those data and that presentations on progress had been made earlier in the year. “There have been real movements toward collecting those, which turns out to be a little more challenging than anybody,” Dr. Collins said, adding that staff would look for ways to show how the plan is informed by the data already being gathered.

Board members described the safety plan as a “living document” that could be amended after adoption. One board member said approving the plan now would not prevent future edits, and trustees discussed working with staff to incorporate additional data-reporting language or related policy changes in subsequent meetings.

The board moved to a vote following the discussion and approved adoption of the districtwide safety plan. The transcript records individual “yes” votes but does not supply a complete roll-call tally; the board and staff said the plan may be revised later to add or clarify data-reporting and related language.

Next steps: board members and staff said the safety team and other committees will continue to meet, and staff will work with the board to consider where, if any, additional requirements for data collection and transparency should be placed — either inside the safety plan or in a related policy. The district noted the building-level emergency plans remain confidential and that the district-level plan provides the policy framework.

Public-comment and document availability: the presentation referenced nine public comments on the draft. The district did not provide a full roll-call vote count in the meeting transcript; board members said the adopted plan can be amended and that staff will return with updates if the board requests further changes.