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Brentwood schools to post updated safety plan after Regents require one-week parent notification for emergency drills
Summary
The Brentwood Board heard a mandatory update to the districtwide safety plan after the State Board of Regents added language requiring parents be notified a week before certain emergency drills and be given a one-week opt-out window; the district will post the updated plan for a 30-day public comment period and seek Board reapproval in October.
The Brentwood Union Free School District on Aug. 22 told the Board of Education it will post an updated districtwide safety plan that reflects new state requirements requiring parent notification and an opt-out process for some emergency drills.
Dr. Vincent Leone, coordinator of funded programs compliance and the district’s chief information officer, told trustees that the State Board of Regents adopted additional language in July that the district must incorporate. "Parents and persons in parental relation have to be notified of any emergency drill within 1 week of the drill taking place," he said, adding that the district will send notifications a week prior to a drill and allow parents one week to submit a written opt-out request.
Why this matters: the changes affect lockdown and lockout drills and formalize a parent-notification and verification process the district must follow by law before the first day of school. Staff said the requirement supplements earlier rules that drills and training be "trauma informed, developmentally and age appropriate."
Officials said the updated plan will be posted to the district website, open for a 30-day public comment period, and then returned to the Board for reapproval in October. On logistics, district staff explained how opt-outs will be handled: families should submit a written opt-out to the building administrator (or to a teacher who will forward it), the district will verify the authenticity of opt-out requests, and students who opt out will be placed in a supervised location (for example, an auditorium or unused classroom) during the drill. Staff clarified that required evacuation drills (the routine drills) are not subject to this new opt-out and notification requirement.
In a question-and-answer exchange, a community member asked whether an opt-out would apply to all future drills or only a single drill. District staff said the opt-outs apply specifically to lockdown and lockout drills as described in the revised rules. The district also committed to posting the revised plan the next day so the public can review the changes and comment.
Next steps: the district will post the updated safety plan on its website, begin a 30-day public-comment period, and expect to bring the revised plan back to the Board for reapproval at the October meeting.
