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Front of DPSDear Parents/Guardians,

This is our annual notice regarding the Safety Protocols that have been established at the Donald P. Sutherland School. Our team works diligently to ensure that while your children are at our school they are safe and that their individual needs are met. School Safety Protocols are in place and reviewed regularly. Maintaining the safety of our children is everyone’s job; this includes parents, visitors, and the DPS staff. Please take a moment to carefully review the safety protocols that have been put into place at DPS. These measures are aligned to our District’s Safety Plan.

New to our school and school district this year is our printable visitor identification badge system. Any visitor who enters an East Greenbush Central School District building will be asked by the reception area secretary to provide a valid state-issued license or military, law enforcement or government-issued identification. The secretary will scan the identification and the software program, Raptor Visitor Management, will instantaneously check the name on the driver’s license against a national database of registered sex offenders. Once entry is approved, Raptor will issue a visitor badge that identifies the visitor, the date and the purpose of the visit. Visitors will be required to check out in the same location before leaving the school.

This new policy allows district staff to accurately determine who is in the school at any given time and support the district’s continued efforts to ensure the safety of children, staff and visitors.

School Safety at DPS

  • Our building remains secured with all access points locked at all times during the school day.
  • There are security cameras continuously monitoring all access points as well as the surrounding areas of DPS.
  • All visitors must ring the buzzer located to the right of the main door (front of building) in order to gain access to the building. There is a handicapped entrance located outside to the left of the Main Entrance. A camera and intercom system at the Main Entrance allows the reception staff to communicate with and see all visitors. Our students and staff are instructed to not open any doors for visitors as they must be buzzed in and monitored by our reception staff.
  • Between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, all visitors must immediately report to the Reception Vestibule after gaining access to the building in order to be properly signed in and have their identification scanned through the Raptor system. There will be no exceptions to this procedure. This includes visiting our outdoor grounds for student activities and events.
  • Visitors who have been buzzed in should never hold the door open to permit others to access the building. This includes people they may know and recognize. Visitors are monitored via the security cameras to ensure that they report directly to the Reception Vestibule.
  • Parents/visitors may be asked to show a picture ID in order to be allowed to visit any locations within our building or remove a child from the building.
  • Our district utilizes a computer/technology based program which immediately alerts our staff to any medical and/or legal custody issues that may exist. If any custody issues exist, it is the parents’/guardians’ responsibility to provide us with a copy of any legal papers. An email, phone call or personal letter is not good enough. We must have the required legal documentation.
  • All adults in the building should either have a school identification badge or a visitor sticker on their person.
  • If there is an unknown person in the building, a staff member will approach the individual, ask if they can help the person, inform them of our school policies, and then escort the visitor back to the main office.
  • Children dropped off to school after 9:15 AM must be accompanied by a parent/guardian to the main office and properly signed in.
  • Parents who pick up their children at dismissal must report to the main office where they will need to sign out their child.
  • All notes, lunches, materials, etc. sent to school should have your child’s full name (first and last) on them to avoid any confusion.
  • The DPS Safety Team meets regularly to review safety protocols and plan emergency safety drills throughout the year. These include fire drills, lockdown drills, lockout drills, silent dismissals, shelter in place and severe weather drills.

We appreciate your cooperation and support of the safety protocols at DPS. Should you ever have any questions or concerns about safety issues or procedures during the school year, please feel free to contact me. We are looking forward to a happy and safe year for all of our school community.

Sincerely,

Jack Alvey
Principal

View Principal’s Letter