NEW CITY, NY — Clarkstown school officials have released their draft of the district-wide school safety plan for 2023-24.
The Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the plan, which is updated annually, on Aug. 31.
New this year:
District officials developed the Emergency Remote Instruction Plan to address the instruction of students if extraordinary circumstances prevent students and staff from physically attending school. The plan meets the requirements of New York State Education Commissioner’s Regulations for inclusion in the 2023-24 District-Wide School Safety Plan. It also adheres to guidance set forth in five Board of Education policies.
For the purpose of the plan, remote instruction means the instruction occurring when the student and the instructor are in different locations due to the closure of one or more of the district’s school buildings due to emergency conditions as determined by the superintendent of schools. Emergency conditions include, but are not limited to, extraordinary adverse weather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficient water supply, prolonged disruption of electrical power, shortage of fuel, destruction of a school building, shortage of transportation vehicles, or a communicable disease outbreak, and the school district would otherwise close due to such an emergency.
In all situations, remote instruction requires regular and substantive teacher-student interaction with an appropriately certified teacher. All faculty should have an alternative general activity for students in the instance that widespread power outages or other disruptions to connectivity occur preventing synchronous connection. If students lose connectivity, then the expectation is they will complete the alternate assignment provided.
Also, the district’s protocol for dealing with bomb threats has been updated. Each school’s Building Level plan lists building specific response actions including bomb threats. Guidelines and steps follow the Department of Homeland Security guidance as illustrated in the video “What to Do: Bomb Threat.”
District officials have also updated essential information, such as the list of CPR-trained employees.
FYI, Appendix 9 is a section called Early Detection of Potentially Violent Behaviors | A Guide for Families and Communities.
New York requires that Board of Educations shall make their safety plan available for public comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption. Clarkstown’s draft plan is available for review here.
The public will have an opportunity to provide feedback at the hearing on Aug. 31 or by emailing the District Clerk at [email protected].
