To our Greenville Community:
Back in December, I sent a letter notifying families of our emergency communication practices. It is a goal of mine to reshare this message every quarter to keep our community informed of what to expect if an emergency occurs.
The letter I’m sharing today outlines the emergency responses that Greenville Central School District has in place, expectations in the event of an emergency, where to direct questions, and how to update contact information before an emergency.
Emergency Responses
Every school district in New York State, including GCSD, has five emergency procedures they follow:
- Lockdown - Used to secure school buildings and grounds during incidents that pose an immediate threat of violence in or around the school.
- For example, if a person has a weapon on school grounds, we would call a lockdown.
- Lockout - Used to secure school buildings and grounds during incidents that pose an imminent concern outside of the school.
- For example, if police were looking for a suspect in the area, the schools would go into a lockout.
- Hold-in-Place - Used to limit the movement of students and staff while dealing with short-term emergencies.
- For example, if a student were having a medical issue in the hallway and emergency services needed to get through, we would call a hold-in-place to avoid unnecessary commotion in the hallway.
- Evacuate - Used to evacuate students and staff from the building.
- For example, if a pipe were to burst in the school, we would evacuate everyone to a predetermined off-site location.
- Shelter-in-Place - Used to shelter students and staff inside the building.
- For example, if a tornado were to occur outside the school, we would call a shelter-in-place.
Expectations in an Emergency
Our first priority will always be the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors in our buildings. In the event of a lockout, hold-in-place, evacuation, shelter-in-place, or lockdown, an initial message notifying families of the situation will go out via text, phone call, email, social media, and the website. The message will contain the type of emergency, and any information surrounding the specific incident that we can provide. We will continue to update the community, even if no new information is available, by providing timestamped updates. When the situation is resolved, we will send out an update stating the status of the emergency, and indicating that communication is the “final” update about the situation.
We understand that receiving information about an emergency can be stressful, and we will do our best to provide clear and concise updates in a timely manner. Additionally, parking lots and roads surrounding campus must be kept clear for emergency personnel to easily access them, should their services be required.
Questions During an Emergency
In the event of an emergency, please refrain from calling the school offices, or entering the school grounds. School secretaries are an integral part of our emergency response teams, and their phone lines must be kept open to aid in resolving the situation. If you have specific questions while the District is experiencing an emergency, our School Communications Specialist will monitor email and social media comments to respond in a timely manner to the best of their ability.
Contact Information
We encourage all members of the school community to make sure that their contact information is up-to-date in our records, so that we can reach you in a timely manner. If you are not currently receiving communications from the District, please email pizzolas@greenvillecsd.org or call 518-966-5070 x523 to update your information. It is also important to regularly check your email and phone for updates and to follow our website or social media channels for additional information.
As a reminder, we plan to reshare this message every quarter to keep our community informed of what to expect if an emergency occurs. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we work to keep our school community safe.
Sincerely,
Michael Bennett
Superintendent of Schools