Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Brentwood board hears safety-plan updates: more AEDs, new 911 protocols, card-swipe access and 30-day comment period
Summary
District safety leaders told the Brentwood Union Free School District Board on July 16 that the emergency-management plan now includes additional AEDs and CPR training, updated 911 routing, active shelter-in-place drills, expanded monitoring and a move toward card-swipe classroom access; the plan will be posted for 30 days of public comment.
The Brentwood Union Free School District Board of Education heard detailed updates to the districtwide safety plan at its July 16 meeting, including expanded AED placement, new 911 protocols, increased camera monitoring and plans to move classrooms to card-swipe access, officials said.
"We've expanded our cardiac emergency response team in the district due to Disha's law," said Byron McCray, the district's director of school safety, noting the district added AEDs across buildings and equipped school-safety vehicles with AED machines. "We've only increased the AED machines, but our school safety staff was already equipped to handle any type of emergency."
Why it matters: the changes are framed as both statutory compliance and operational improvement. Presenters tied the additions to state law updates and said the plan emphasizes drills, reunification procedures and clearer 911 routing so emergency calls can be located immediately.
District staff explained several concrete changes. McCray described that new dialing rules (referred to in the presentation as "Kerry's law") allow 911 to be reached directly from district phones without dialing an outside-line prefix; staff said that change helps emergency dispatch identify the originating location quickly. The presenters also said shelter-in-place exercises will move from tabletop review to active drills this year, and the district conducts twice-yearly vulnerability assessments to identify blind spots and necessary cameras.
On discipline and prevention, Dr. Vincent Leone, director of programs and policy, highlighted school-climate initiatives such as Athletes Helping Athletes, a BUFSD Welcome Center and restorative-practices programming intended to reduce exclusionary discipline. Leone also reported required disaggregated enforcement data under New York State Education Law and Policy 5695 for student personal electronic devices. The district found "no discrepancy or disproportionality" in that enforcement data and said no mitigation plan is required; the data will be posted to the district website in the coming month.
The presentation included operational details for families. McCray described the district's 24/7 safety center that monitors phones and cameras and provided a direct emergency line for community reporting; he asked residents to contact the district before escalating issues on social media so staff can respond. He also outlined a security-guard training program that runs on Saturdays and said about 90% of students who completed the program have obtained outside employment with security firms.
In addition, presenters described building-access upgrades at the high school and freshman center: card-swipe IDs in classrooms that can be deactivated if lost to prevent unauthorized entry. The board was told the plan as presented will be posted on the district website with a 30-day public comment period and instructions for submitting feedback.
The board did not take a formal vote on the safety plan during the presentation; staff said the posted document will permit community review and comment before final action.
