Student Safety of Utmost Importance

Safety of PSD students, staff of utmost importance

Dear Poudre School District Community,

In light of the recent tragedies in schools both close to home and across the nation, it is important that the Poudre School District community know that the safety of students and staff is of the highest priority. 

We are shocked and saddened by the recent shootings in public and private schools and are taking every precaution to keep our students safe.  Our foremost responsibility is to ensure a safe learning environment in all our schools.

We have recently reviewed security plans with staff and completed a major review of our procedures.  Additionally we have asked staff to be vigilant in observing their schools and the safety of the children.  We have requested that all schools maintain a single entry into buildings that can be closely monitored. 

PSD’s Board of Education has adopted policies addressing building security. In addition, the district has developed procedures over the past 10 years to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from any crisis situation. 

Standards for security and safety are consistent for Poudre School District schools, which follow these proactive measures:

• A full day PSD Crisis Training Conference was held September 26 for nearly 250 administrators and staff from our schools, along with local law enforcement, utilizing funds obtained through an Emergency Crisis Response and Management grant from the U.S. Department of Education.  Attendees discussed and planned for a wide variety of crisis situations.
• Each school maintains its own Building Crisis Response Team to develop crisis plans, conduct additional staff training and respond in the event of an emergency. 
• The district supports these efforts through an annual school security assessment, which includes inspecting the facility for safety/security purposes, and makes recommendations for improvement.
• Staff members are reminded to be diligent in identifying unknown visitors to their schools.  All visitors are required to check in at the main office, identify themselves and reason for the visit, and receive a visitor badge. School staff should contact anyone not displaying a badge and offer assistance.
• Through the 2000 Bond issue passed by voters, building access control and video systems at all district locations are being installed to allow sites to control and monitor visitors to their sites.
• In partnership with the Fort Collins Police Services, schools are assigned School Resource Officers, police officers who assist sites in reviewing and developing site security and safety procedures.  Poudre School District works collaboratively with local law enforcement agencies to share information, and provide joint training exercises.
• Finally, Poudre School District has a "Threat Assessment" process, which brings at-risk student behavior to the attention of staff.  Depending on the level of threat, a safety plan may be implemented for that specific student.

If you would like to discuss this or need further information, you may contact your school principal or Norm Bastian, PSD Security Manager, at nbastian@psdschools.org  or 490-3523.

Very sincerely,
Jerry Wilson, Ph.D.
Poudre School District Superintendent of Schools