Dear Troy School District Parents and Staff,
The tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut weighed heavily on all of us over the weekend and our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of the victims. As we prepare for school tomorrow, I believe it may be helpful to you to know some of the measures in place to ensure the safety of every student and staff member. We will be meeting this week with both our internal security teams as well as the Troy Police Department to review our safety and security procedures at every building.
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In the meantime, I want to reassure you that we are committed to maintaining the safest of learning environments across the District. I feel it is important to share with you our existing security measures:
- Our school security measures are based on nationally recognized best practices. Though we continually strive for improvement in all areas, we are confident that our schools are safe.
- We continue to work with local law enforcement to provide expertise and extra enforcement. Our security staff is made up of retired Troy Police officers with decades of training and experience.
- Troy Police will be providing extra patrols at all of our buildings this week, and will meet with us to recommend any changes going forward.
- Every door in every school building aside from the main entrances will be locked. Main entrances will be carefully monitored.
- All outside visitors are required to check in at the office.
- Every school regularly conducts security drills to deal with a variety of situations. Staff members have been trained in safety procedures. Reviews of these drills are used to revised and refine our security practices.
It's important that we maintain a sense of routine and stability to help our students feel safe. For the most part, the regular school day and school activities will continue as planned.
If you feel your child may need additional support, please contact his or her teacher or principal.
Many of you have written with suggestions for additional security measures. We appreciate your ideas and want you to know that we will be discussing each of them during our internal and external security reviews. We understand that you may have concerns, and we join with you in continuing to make the safety of our students and staff our top priority. We appreciate your support and commitment as we work together for the safety and well being of all.