Kingston City School District presents 2025–26 districtwide safety plan, outlines SRO role

Sean Parker, coordinator of prevention and safety for the Kingston City School District, presented the districtwide 2025–26 safety plan and said the plan will be available for a 30-day public comment period on the district website.

Parker said the presentation covered four sections: creating and maintaining a safe learning environment; teams and plans required by New York State; the relationship between the districtwide plan and building-level safety plans; and new requirements for the 2025–26 plan. “This is the time when we present the district wide plan to the board, the community, and make it available for a 30 day comment period on our website,” Parker said.

The presentation described the district’s safety approach as relying on three components — physical safety, behavioral supports and a positive climate — and referenced federal and state guidance, including FEMA and the New York State Education Department. Parker noted that building-level emergency response plans are not public documents and may only be viewed by school teams, first responders, districtwide team members and New York State.

Parker outlined specific updates required by NYSED, including standardized emergency-response terminology (shelter, hold, evacuate and the replacement of “lockout” with “secure lockout”) and new drill and after‑school event procedures for events involving nonregular attendees. Training requirements were expanded to include incident command roles, de‑escalation, “stop the bleed” and other emergency-response topics.

The presentation documented operational changes and resources: expansion of surveillance cameras from 258 to 574, use of the Raptor visitor-management system, cybersecurity and anonymous reporting programs, and a 25‑member district critical stress management team. Parker reported that SROs logged 718 additional interactions since December; he said about 76% of those interactions were general dialogue (parents, staff, students and community members), 15% were administrative assistance, and 12% were student‑initiated assistance. Parker said there have been no arrests on campus this year except for one incident at an off‑campus athletic event that involved a non‑KCSD student.

Parker also referenced the district’s memorandum of understanding with the Kingston Police Department, saying SROs support safety through peer mediation, safety education, connecting families with community services and taking law‑enforcement action when the law is broken. He said SROs do not handle school disciplinary matters unless the law requires it.

Board member questions included whether county law‑enforcement conversations or contingency plans exist for events requiring SROs to take specific actions; Parker said he had not had certain conversations with the sheriff or chiefs. The presentation closed with a note that disaggregated incident data (by race, gender and educational classification) is being prepared and will be shared after summer programs conclude.

The district presented the plan for public feedback; the board did not adopt or vote on the plan during the meeting.