District outlines multi-layered school-safety plan; Syntegix alerts and 10 SSOs to be deployed

The Litchfield Elementary School District presented a multi-part school-safety update on Jan. 14 that outlined staff work to strengthen physical and behavioral supports across campuses.

Superintendent Dr. Davidson said the district has prioritized layered safeguards that include both physical improvements and mental-health supports. "As we move into 2025, I'm just really proud of the team and the work that they've done to continue to find ways to enhance school safety," Dr. Davidson said during his introduction.

Thomas "Moss" Foster de Oro, the district's director of school safety, described six objectives for the school year: create site school-safety teams at every campus, update the district Emergency Operating Plan (EOP) to the Arizona Department of Education's revised template, document standard operating procedures for Syntegix crisis alerts and the visitor-management system, enlist staff/families/community including adding school safety officers (SSOs), use bond priorities for district-wide safety improvements (radios, point-of-entry cameras and buzzers, vestibules), and perform CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) site assessments.

Moss said Syntegix crisis alert has been implemented districtwide and offices are conducting training; the district has started a soft rollout of a visitor-management kiosk that verifies visitor ID and conducts cursory checks (for example, against public sex-offender lists) at front offices. Moss also said facilities assessments are underway and that the district will use low-cost steps (trimming sightline-hindering shrubbery, adjusting camera placements) and higher-cost bond-funded work to improve security.

The board was told the district was awarded 10 SSO positions through a competitive mini-grant process; these are off-duty sworn officers who work school assignments and are not the same as school resource officers (SROs), which are single-officer, sworn police assignments to a single school. Moss said SSOs provide site presence and community engagement and that district sites have already posted the positions and begun onboarding.

The district also described EOP work to explicitly account for students with functional needs, in line with the ADE revisions; district staff said many site EOPs exist already and the district is consolidating site inputs into the new statewide template.

Board members asked staff about training, operational fidelity, and maintenance. Moss said the district is incorporating Syntegix into lockdown drills, checking badge batteries and technical interfaces weekly, and coordinating with IT to resolve intercom and desktop-takeover issues. He described a training approach that pairs more- and less-confident staff during drills so all users gain familiarity.

Why it matters: The presentation documents specific, actionable steps the district is taking after earlier safety incidents and national attention on school security. Physical changes (vestibules, cameras, radios) and procedural updates (EOP, visitor management, drills) are intended to reduce response times and increase staff confidence.

What comes next: Staff will finish the EOP updates, complete visitor-management rollout and training, onboard SSOs, and conduct CPTED assessments at two campuses this school year as pilot sites; the district plans to adopt standard operating procedures based on lessons learned.

Supporting details and sources: Presentation slides and board discussion during Jan. 14 meeting; Moss and Dr. Davidson provided the updates in open session.