Good afternoon!
I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to reach out in light of yesterday’s tragic event at Apalachee High School. It is impossible to put into words the range of emotions and the sense of shock that we are all experiencing right now.
First and foremost, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to all those impacted. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and anyone who has been affected by this horrific event. In moments like these, it's important to come together and support one another.
The safety and security of our schools remains our top priority! We appreciate our sheriff’s department and Georgia State Patrol assisting us with extra presence on our campuses this week!
We consistently discuss safety both internally and with our partners in law enforcement and emergency management, but we do hold security plans and information confidential to protect our school community from anyone who might attempt to use our plans against us to cause harm.
I wanted to share with you safety features that we added over the summer at our middle and high schools. The new elementary school will have all of these features as well when they open in January.
All classroom doors have been installed with LifeBolt, a locking mechanism that prevents intruders from entering the room. The benefit of this mechanism is that in the event of an emergency situation, the teacher can bolt the classroom door. It can only be unlocked from the inside or with a key that law enforcement can use to open the door. The LifeBolt is designed to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure and gunshots.
In addition, we have added a crisis alert system called Centegix. This system is a wearable mobile panic button that allows staff to get help instantly in an emergency. With the push of a button, users can alert responders in seconds with precise incident locations.
All middle and high school staff have been trained on the new system. Primary and elementary school employees will be trained and have these badges when the new school opens in January.
In light of the recent tragedy, we have been provided three opportunities for students and parents to participate in workshops around coping with this horrific event. These workshops are offered free of charge. If the time does not work for you, but you would still like to participate, please register for the event and you will be sent a link to watch the recorded version. The workshops are below:
· “Trauma Awareness and Healing:” It will take place on Monday, September 9th, at 1:00 pm. Please click the link to register: https://tinyurl.com/y98xc8p4
· “Grief and Loss:” Wednesday, September 11th at 6:00 pm - https://tinyurl.com/4cyu8y4e
· “Coping Skills:” Thursday, September 12th at 3:00 pm = https://tinyurl.com/3t6m8t37
As always, our counselors are ready to assist any student who may need a little extra comforting or reassurance.
Good communication is important at all times but becomes vital during a crisis. We are communicating this year through our website, our district app, phone calls, emails, text messages and social media. Yesterday, we communicated through the Oglethorpe County School System app, email and text. You have the opportunity to allow notifications on the app, so If you did not receive one or all of these communications, please contact your child’s school office or our central office and we can assist you in ensuring all of your information is up to date!
We were inundated with emails, messages, and Anonymous Alerts about social media posts last night. I appreciate the students and parents who took the time to send these and check to make sure we were aware. Please encourage your child to be VERY mindful of sharing these posts on social media. There are always a lot of hoax messages after an incident like this. Sharing and re-posting the messages on social media creates a sense of panic and makes it more challenging for law enforcement to track down the original post. Again, it is very appropriate to share with school officials your concern; we just discourage the sharing of this type of information on social media. We take every notification very seriously and report it to the appropriate authorities.
In addition, The Georgia Department of Education’s School Safety Hotline (1-877-SAY-STOP) is available 24/7 to take reports about school safety from school officials, parents, students, and the public.
Thank you for trusting us with your child(ren)!
Sincerely,
Beverley Levine
