Dear Parents/Guardians:
I am writing to provide you with information about the Department of Education’s Emergency Readiness Initiatives that are in place in all NYC Public Schools. Every school currently has procedures for emergencies. In 2000, New York State Education Law Section 2801 was enacted requiring schools to develop safety plans regarding emergency response. That law was amended in 2001 to require that plans include information for evacuation and sheltering. In accordance with this, “schools need to conduct drills and other exercises to test components of the emergency response plan.”
School staff members are trained in various procedures that are outlined in the School Safety Plan and we currently conduct a variety of drills throughout the year to prepare our staff and students. The training is tailored for different grade levels so that students are not upset by the information. Parents will be notified through the Messaging App a week before the drills are to take place.
Section 807 of New York State Education Law requires schools to conduct 12 Emergency Drills each school year. Four of these Emergency Drills must be Lockdown Drills. One lockdown drill must be conducted in the Fall term (by October 31st) and another lockdown drill must be conducted during the Spring Term (between February 1st & March 14th). The remaining 2 lockdown drills may be conducted at any time during the school year as determined by the administrative team. The remaining 8 must be Evacuation Drills. 8 Emergency Drills must be conducted before December 31st and the remaining 4 drills must be conducted prior to the end of the school year. Emergency Drills must be recorded in the DOE online Emergency Drills data entry page through the OSYD Portal within 48 hours of commencement of the Drill.
Section 917 of the State Education Law states that schools are required to provide and maintain automated external defibrillator (AED) equipment, and drills are conducted during the year to assess the use of AED units in an emergency. In accordance with Section 3623 of the State Education Law, drills are also conducted at schools that focus on safety on a school bus.
In addition to conducting these types of drills, our school has a Building Response Team that is trained to activate and respond to different incidents that may occur at our school. Under the General Response Protocol (GRP), every school will be conducting specific drills designed to help prepare all school communities for three different types of response to emergencies that may occur: evacuation, shelter-in, and lockdown.
All families are reminded to update the Emergency Contact Cards that are on file in our main office. This includes providing and updating information indicating phone numbers, and the names of adults to whom the school may release children in an emergency.
Chris Cuthill
Assistant Principal
