Staff members follow safety and security protocols, model safety and security behaviors, reinforce behavior expectations, and provide behavior interventions. Staff members also plan and conduct emergency drills, participate in safety committees, and work to collaborate with district personnel and community members to enhance measures to provide for a safe and secure learning environment. They also know how to identify potential threats to safety and security and report such concerns to school administration without delay.

Students play a critical role in maintaining safe and secure schools. Students should follow all directions during emergency drills. They should be willing to talk with parents, teachers, school counselors, school administrators, and police when they have concerns about their individual safety or that of another. Students should also practice positive interpersonal relationship skills to help sustain a safe and secure learning environment and to promote social competence.

Parents should be knowledgeable about safety and security procedures at their student's school. Parents should reinforce and support school behavior expectations and should participate in safety and security discussions at meetings. Parents should be able to identify potential threats to the safety and security of their students and report concerns to school administration and/or police without delay.

Community members, including members of law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services work to collaborate with school officials to develop emergency response protocols.

Avon Grove Charter School uses an electronic visitor screening system by Raptor Technologies. All school visitors are required to produce their valid state issued ID to be scanned through our Raptor system at each school building. A visitor ID will be printed through the Raptor system and must always be worn during the visit. The system screens for persons who should not have access to a school and alerts administration if an unauthorized person attempts to visit one of our schools.

Avon Grove Charter School implemented Crisis Go, a safety platform application that will allow schools to increase safety standards through tools that provide advanced emergency notifications, improve response, grant staff instant access to safety information, and spread safety awareness.  By using Crisis Go as part of our emergency communication and safety protocols, AGCS can obtain a single line of emergency communication that could be accessed by all staff no matter where they are and maintain a backup communication channel.

Pennsylvania School Code now requires each school entity to establish at least one Threat Assessment Team.  A threat assessment is a prevention strategy and fact-based process for the assessment of and intervention with students whose behaviors may indicate a threat to the safety of the student, other students, school employees, school facilities, the community, or others.

The key responsibilities of the Threat Assessment Team are to:

• provide materials for students, school employees, and parents/guardians
• assess and respond to reports of threats from varying resources
• make appropriate determinations, referrals and notices

Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention program run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. It's designed to teach youth and adults how to recognize the warning signs and signals - especially on social media - from individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and to "say something" before it's too late.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 44 in 2018, which mandates the establishment of Safe2Say Something by every school district in Pennsylvania, and the training of all school district personnel as well as students in grades 6-12.

Three ways to submit an anonymous tip

• Call the Tip line:  1-844-SAF2SAY (1-844-723-2729)
• Use the Safe2Say Something Website
• Use the mobile app, available for download in iOS and Android stores

How Safe2Say Something works

1. An anonymous tip is submitted via the mobile app, website or phone call to the Safe2Say Something Crisis Center.
2. Crisis Center analysts vet and triage the tip, then engage the tipster in anonymous two-way chat in order to provide detailed and immediately-actionable information to schools and dispatch.
3. Crisis Center analysts deliver the tip to the impacted school and as needed, to local law enforcement via 911 County Dispatch.
4. The school and, as needed, local law enforcement, assess and intervene with the at-risk individual.
5. The school then closes out the tip and reports action taken as a record for their school.
6. Avon Grove Charter School also encourages students and parents to immediately report any issues of concern to school district personnel when someone sees or hears something that would pose a threat to others or school.  This direct reporting is a key piece in promoting and maintaining a safe school environment.  Speaking to school personnel will trigger an immediate investigation of the concern.