Utica board reviews districtwide safety plan tied to state regulation; building plans withheld from public posting

District administrators presented the Utica City School Districts districtwide safety plan for 2024-25, citing Commissioners Regulation 155.17 as the regulatory basis for the plan.

The assistant superintendent said the plans goals are to prevent or minimize the effects of serious violent incidents and to coordinate the district with local and county emergency resources. "The purpose of a district wide safety plan is to prevent or minimize the effects of serious violent incidents and emergencies, to facilitate the coordination of the school district with local and county resources," the assistant superintendent said.

Officials noted that detailed building-level emergency response plans are not made public for safety reasons, while the districtwide plan will be posted online. The districts plan includes activation procedures for building emergency response teams, notification protocols for the superintendent and local emergency officials, identification of potential hazards, and general responses such as two-hour delays, cancellations, early dismissals, sheltering, lockout and lockdown procedures.

The presentation listed required staff training topics (chemical safety, dignity for all students/anti-bullying, mental health awareness, emergency management, harassment prevention, pandemic preparedness and blood-borne pathogen exposure) and cited active shooter tabletop exercises, incident investigation and reporting, de-escalation training and annual updates from the State Education Department as components of preparedness.

The presenter said April 2024 amendments have been proposed to ensure drills such as lockouts are conducted in ways that avoid traumatizing students. The plan also ties districtwide procedures to building-level protocols and the incident command system. No board vote on the plan occurred during the hearing; the presentation was given for public information.