Policy committee reviews annual safety-plan updates, discusses threat response and extreme-heat guidance

The Ithaca City School District policy committee reviewed updates to the district and building-level safety plans on Oct. 7, focusing on new state guidance on trauma-informed drills, language about extreme-heat responses and procedures for assessing and communicating about threats.

Dr. Dan Bridal, a district staff member presenting the plan, said the state is moving toward ‘‘trauma informed’’ drills that reduce unnecessary stress and that the district will provide advanced notice to parents and staff so ‘‘everyone knows that a drill is a drill.’’ He listed new standardized terminology and clarified that the state’s guidance distinguishes evacuation, shelter-in-place, lockdown and lockout procedures.

The discussion matters because the updated language changes drill practice and communication during potential emergencies. Committee members pressed staff on how the district decides when to notify families after a threat and how law enforcement evaluates credibility.

Bridal described recent operational changes: the district has trained custodial staff to take classroom temperatures with psychrometers, has historical heat mapping of spaces provided by PetroTek, and plans to relocate occupants "to cooler areas whenever practical" when instructional spaces reach 88 degrees — language he attributed to guidance from Governor Hochul. He said the district already uses building-wide sensors (the “continuum”) to monitor room temperatures and that a new HVAC capacity at the high school ("400 tons of cool air") will allow staff to prioritize hotter zones.

On an incident this month, Bridal said he contacted Ithaca Police Department leadership immediately; Captain Schwartz and IPD officers evaluated the report and determined it was noncredible. Bridal said the district follows law-enforcement direction in real time: for credible threats, law enforcement is on site and the district communicates immediately; for noncredible threats, IPD typically recommends building-level checks and safety-team follow-up and district staff decide on a case-by-case basis whether to notify families. Because the recent report affected multiple districts in the region, the district did send a notification, he said.

Committee members asked whether students outside for recess would be pulled back into buildings while credibility was being determined; Bridal said he has been communicating with principals and that, in one instance, he worked with a principal and law enforcement to cancel a scheduled evacuation drill on the day of the regional report.

The committee agreed to send the updated safety plan to the full board as a first reading and to post the revisions for the public hearing period (staff said they will confirm the public-posting timeline and work with district counsel on any outstanding legal questions). Committee members asked staff to highlight changes before the board meeting and to coordinate with Carrie (staff member referenced) to add health-related language before posting.

The committee also discussed operational details the updates will capture: advanced parent notification of drills, the district’s 10-day reservation window for facility use (separate policy discussion), and the district’s intent to post the safety plan and solicit public comment for the statutorily required review cycle.

The committee did not adopt the plan at the meeting; staff said they will post the revised draft for public comment and bring a formal adoption item to the board after the public-hearing period.