Burbank Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Jan Britz released the following statement on Monday regarding safety in the BUSD
All of us in the BUSD are saddened by the tragedy which occurred last week at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. We extend our sympathy to the families of the victims and to the entire community of Newtown. We have all lived through too many senseless acts of violence causing others to ask about the safety of our children. We want you to know that the safety of our students is the most important priority in our District.
In order to maintain a positive and safe campus tone following such a tragic event, it is important that we all pull together. One of the most important factors in making the children know that they are safe is for the staff to be visible on campus during school hours, during passing periods, at lunch, and at dismissal. Principals and staff will be very visible this week, even more than usual. In addition, we are working with BPD as partners and you will see patrol cars circling around each school all week long.
In BUSD, we have safety procedures that maximize student and staff safety in our schools:
· Adults visible on campus
· BPD driving around school sites
· Review of safety/emergency plans
· Implementation of all safety and security procedures even if they are inconvenient for visitors, such as locking all gates and not permitting entrance to unauthorized visitors
· Staff members will diligently wear employee badges
This morning District staff visited all elementary schools and discussed with principals safety and security procedures. We want the principals to have access to any resources they need in order to keep the students and staff safe at their schools.
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) recommends limiting children’s exposure to the news on the Newtown tragedy. It is best to keep their routine of normalcy. The schools will keep the routine and scheduled events for this week. It is important for students to come to school this week and expect the norm. This is comforting for them. The students need to be monitored in such a way that we don’t force them to talk but yet embrace open conversations that allow us to explore their feelings so that we can help support them (www.nasponline.org)
We encourage you to contact the District Office if you have any questions regarding school safety. We look forward to working with you to continue to provide a safe environment in which all students can learn. This message will be posted on our Home Page for parents and an All Call has just gone out as well.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jan Britz
Superintendent
Burbank Unified School District
