Sanford School Department details ALICE training, anonymous reporting and reunification plans at safety night

Superintendent Matt Nelson said Sanford Public Schools is taking a community-centered approach to safety, outlining the district's comprehensive health and safety emergency management plan and the tools families should expect during a critical incident.

"For us, it always comes down to relationships," Nelson said, stressing that students, staff, families and city partners share responsibility for day-to-day safety. He introduced Assistant Superintendent Steve Busier and the district's two school resource officers, Joe Jourdain (Sanford Middle School) and Chris Gosling (Sanford High School), who co-presented the training program.

Busier described the district plan as a four-part approach — prevention, preparedness (including drills), response and recovery — that the safety committee reviews monthly and that the school committee approves each August before the school year. He said buildings now use main-door visitor screening, vestibules, ID badges for staff, locked exterior doors and video surveillance to control access.

The presenters outlined four standard emergency protocols used across the district: "clear the halls" (stay put), shelter in place (stay indoors), evacuation (leave the building to a predesignated rally point) and lockdown (secure a classroom for an active intruder or violent incident). The presenters emphasized drills are trauma-informed and are not conducted as surprises.

Jourdain and Gosling explained the district's ALICE training — Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate — describing it as a non-sequential framework that gives students and staff options based on what they observe and their capabilities. "We're not teaching people to fight," Jourdain said; instead, he said, the program offers age-appropriate options, with teachers directing younger children and older students learning additional choices suited to their abilities.

The presenters urged plain-language communication during incidents rather than coded messages, noting the district uses classroom speakers, radios and a district alert app to get real-time information to staff and students. Busier said the district is exploring ways to deliver alerts to patrol cars and dispatch for faster coordination with first responders.

Busier described a 24/7 anonymous reporting system from Sandy Hook Promise that Sanford implemented in September for students in grades 5–12. Reports submitted by mobile app or phone go to a national call center that triages whether a submission is a life-safety threat; if so, assigned district staff and local partners are notified immediately. Busier said the district has seen appropriate reports, with response times generally under 30 minutes and sometimes under 15.

Officials also reviewed evacuation logistics and reunification procedures: each school has predesignated rally points and the district maintains multiple reunification sites and partnerships to receive students, including printed rosters and photo lists in case electronic systems fail. Busier asked parents and guardians not to go to school grounds during a critical incident so first responders can access scenes, and said families should bring ID to reunification sites and carpool when possible.

Nelson encouraged families to keep contact information current in Infinite Campus and to sign up for the district's notification app (referred to in the presentation as the "Thrillshare" app) so they receive timely safety-status updates and pickup instructions. Presenters closed by noting the safety committee's ongoing work and that staff would remain available to answer questions.

No formal board action was taken at the event; presenters described procedures, tools and near-term practices the district is implementing and testing.