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Depew board reviews midyear safety-plan updates, cites new cardiac-response law and Jan. 20 implementation deadline
Summary
Superintendent and BOCES officials told the Depew Union Free School District board the district-level safety plan was updated to reflect state changes and a new cardiac-response requirement ("Desha's Law"), with training and plan language due by Jan. 20 and the district reporting it is on track to comply.
Superintendent Katie Smith and Kevin Berger of the BOCES presented midyear updates to the Depew Union Free School District’s district-level safety plan and outlined new statewide cardiac-response requirements. The board heard that the district-level plan has been streamlined, building-level functional annexes were shifted to confidential building plans, a required workplace-violence section was added, and an updated SRO agreement appears in the appendix.
The presentation emphasized recently enacted cardiac-response obligations referred to in the meeting as “Desha’s Law.” Kevin Berger said the law, signed over the summer, requires every public school in New York to include a cardiac arrest emergency-response plan in both district and building plans, to maintain accessible AEDs, and to provide annual training on signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest for all staff and students K–12. Berger stated the district’s principals entered required details into a secure portal and that Depew is “100% on target” to meet the Jan. 20 implementation deadline.
Board members asked clarifying questions about who receives training and how it is documented; Berger and Superintendent Smith said materials are age-appropriate for K–12 and that the district will follow accredited training providers such as the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association, consistent with existing AED and CPR requirements discussed in the presentation. Smith noted that building-level plans contain more detailed operational annexes and are kept confidential for safety reasons.
The presentation also referenced earlier statutes and related measures, including prior New York State education and public-health law requirements for AED availability and the Dominic Murray Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act (noted in the presentation as prior related state action requiring athlete screening and athletic-staff training).
The board received the update; no formal action was recorded on the safety-plan text at tonight’s open session. The next steps identified were public hearing opportunities and continued work to finalize training materials for January roll-out.
