Red Clay officials outline safety protocols, crisis response and districtwide social‑emotional screening

At a Red Clay Consolidated School District workshop, senior student‑services and public‑safety staff briefed the school board on physical safety, crisis response and the district's social‑emotional screening and MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports) work.

The briefing covered operational safety steps for schools (SROs and constables, locked doors, drills and a panic app), the structure and use of psychological/crisis response teams that deploy to schools after traumatic events, and details about the SABRE social, academic and emotional behavior risk screener used districtwide. Staff also described trends in risk assessments and how schools decide when to escalate supports or involve outside providers.

Why it matters: these systems shape how Red Clay prepares for and responds to violent or medical emergencies, supports students in crisis, and identifies students who may need counseling or behavioral interventions. Staff said some risk indicators are shifting earlier in students' school careers, which affects staffing and program planning.

AJ, supervisor for public safety, told the board the district currently staffs five school resource officers and seven constables and follows the state's comprehensive school safety program through Delaware Emergency Management (DEMA). "We do 9 [fire] drills per year. We do 2 lockdown intruder drills, and we complete 1 tabletop drill," AJ said, and added that school safety teams are required to meet three times a year.

AJ described the district's operational safety procedures: all classroom doors are to be locked at all times (they may be propped only during supervised arrival and dismissal with staff at the door), exterior building entrances are limited during arrival to improve monitoring, and schools use a combination of intercom/all‑call systems, walkie‑talkies and a district panic app. He said the panic app has been downloaded by about 1,700 of roughly 3,000 district staff; holding the app's button generates an immediate alert to other staff and can forward an emergency to police.

AJ described technology the district uses to monitor online safety: a contracted service, Gaggle, reviews content on district accounts and flags concerning searches or messages 24/7. "When I say 24 7, it is 24 7," AJ said, explaining that the service will call district emergency contacts at any hour when a high‑risk alert appears (for example, a student searching for suicide hotlines).

On active‑threat training, staff said Red Clay teaches the FBI model of "run, hide, fight." Board member Keisha Neesmith asked whether the district uses the ALICE protocol; AJ replied, "We we don't use ALICE at Red Clay. We use run, hide, fight, which is it's basically the same. But we've been teaching Run, Hide, Flight for 8 years, and our staff is familiar with it. So we, we're gonna stick with Run, Hide, Flight." The presenters explained how the protocol is adapted by age (K–3 emphasis on hiding/denying access; older students trained first to leave if it is safe).

Sarah Sallison, senior director of student services and special education, described the district's crisis‑response teams. District deployment teams are composed of school‑based mental‑health professionals (social workers, counselors, psychologists) who can be placed on short‑term assignment when a school experiences a death, a violent incident or another event that overwhelms local capacity. "The deployment teams are staff that are being pulled from other buildings," Sallison said; teams typically rotate and are usually on site for days to a couple of weeks depending on need.

Sallison said the district coordinates closely with families before issuing public statements after a student or staff tragedy, and that district staff work with outside grief‑counseling partners (ChristianaCare and private providers). She said in one recent, smaller incident the district coordinated a deployment team to support a school on the Thursday after the event.

Staff outlined school‑level teams as well: a school safety team focused on drills and emergency procedures, and a student crisis readiness team trained in de‑escalation and (where necessary) the district's personal emergency interventions protocol for physical restraint. Sallison said personal emergency interventions are used only when a student presents an immediate risk of serious harm and that district policy requires case review when restraints are repeated.

Kenny Oates, supervisor of student services, reviewed school climate and how it is measured. Red Clay participates in the Delaware School Climate Survey for students, staff and families; the district uses results for planning, professional learning and to target interventions where climate measures are weak. Oates said schools often use the survey results at faculty meetings and with building administrators to plan school‑level professional development.

Heather Godwin, education associate in student services, described the SABRE social, academic and emotional behavior risk screener the district uses for early identification of needs. "For the past 3 years, this is our third year of full implementation, we've been doing the SABRE screener," Godwin said. The screener operates as a teacher report for grades K–3 (teachers complete it for each student) and a student self‑report for grades 4–12. Results are flagged as low, some risk or high risk for overall and subscale scores (social, academic, emotional) so teams can match interventions to student needs.

Godwin said the district does not automatically send individual screener results home. "We do not send home the results," she said, but added that parents can request a student's record and that families will be notified if the student receives a social‑emotional intervention. Staff emphasized that screening is one data point and that MTSS teams triangulate screener results with attendance, nurse visits, grades and disciplinary data before deciding interventions.

Presenters said a district trend of note is that risk assessments are being conducted for younger students: two years ago middle‑school students represented a high share of risk assessments, and last year elementary grades showed a marked increase. The district uses those data to plan counseling, social‑worker and psychologist staffing and to target MTSS supports.

School practices named in the presentation included marked interior/exterior doors for first‑responder entry points, a family reunification plan for off‑campus student release after certain incidents, and a requirement that school safety teams conduct tabletop drills and maintain a schedule of emergency exercises. The presenters also described targeted supports (tier‑1 SEL curriculum for all students; tier‑2 small groups and check‑in/check‑out; tier‑3 individualized counseling, behavior‑support plans, and outside hospitalization transitions) and said the goal is to standardize MTSS practices districtwide while allowing schools flexibility for local needs.

Staff said the district will post the slide deck and linked materials on BoardDocs and promised to share the district's MTSS/triangle data with the board. Presenters invited board members to follow up with district student services and public safety staff for additional information.

Several board members asked about training: presenters said not all staff receive the full day Devereaux Safe de‑escalation and personal emergency intervention training; the district provides shorter de‑escalation trainings to broader staff and reserves the full certification for crisis‑team members. Presenters identified ongoing needs for staff training, consistent application of behavior matrices across classrooms and schools, and coordination with outside behavioral‑health providers for students returning from hospitalization.

The presentation closed with staff noting follow‑up items: the slide deck and linked guidelines on BoardDocs, a plan to share the MTSS (triangle) data with the board, and the availability of district student services and public safety staff for questions.