District readopts building safety plans to reflect new Regents drill rules; 30-day public comment opened

At a public hearing, the board readopted the district’s 2024–25 building safety plans to include revisions issued by the New York State Board of Regents that took effect July 31. Dina Feracio, director of school culture, told the board the key changes require that parents be notified when a drill will occur within a one- to seven-day window (without disclosing an exact date or time) and that students and staff must be informed that events are drills. Feracio said drills must be conducted on different days and at varying times and that multiple drills may not be held on the same day.

"Parents are now to be informed when an emergency drill is happening," Feracio said, describing the 1–7 day notification window and the requirement that staff and students be notified the event is a drill. She said the building-level plans were updated to reflect the rules and that building-level plans remain confidential. The district has posted the revised plans under district announcements on its website and opened a 30-day public comment period.

Feracio also announced an October 24 watch-party event for parents — a virtual FBI presentation on online safety and digital dangers — and said the district will provide supervised activities for children during the presentation and requests that attendees register in advance. The board did not take additional formal action on the safety plans at the meeting; the readoption and the public comment period were the focus of the presentation.