001members, if it's okay, I'm just going to segue into our uh student safety update. Um, and uh we have shared a student safety update uh repeatedly throughout previous months and as we near the end of the school year. It's just an excellent time uh to share an update on the work that we continue to do. Uh it's 247 really our top priority to keep students safe. uh the document that I'm sharing from now, I would appreciate it if you could get that up, but it will be a part of our newsletter going out tomorrow. So, just want to reassure everyone in the community that you will have all of this in your email box uh very soon. Um, part of the update that we're wanted to share out this evening is really the work that's
002gone on ensuring visibility and line of sight expectations into every area of our buildings where students are being served. So, I really want to uh express my gratitude for Dr. Inglebrook and the facilities and operations team. They've been working right alongside Lorie Stithithm who's led a team of special service providers and we've worked with building principles, both of the directors really walking every single school, every single area to ensure uh clear line of sight and visibility into any area where students are served and to at all costs avoid any situations where a single staff member is alone in an enclosed space. A comprehensive review of each area of service has been conducted and we're very grateful to all who participated. Um, in order to support this directive, we've even reached out to work with our
003Alice trainers in Kansas. Kevin Herell and some of his team were at and the Alice training with many members of our team and we were able in a public session, a training session to really clarify uh any confusion around the active shooter protocol of lowering the coverings on windows which applies only during that active threat time. whatever. If that ever happens, we hope it doesn't, but if it happens, that is a time where uh individual students would be joining a classroom and folks would be taking shelter with the uh coverings down, but that at all other times, our coverings are raised and there's clear line of sight into every area. I just really appreciate I had the opportunity to check in with uh Chief Lockheart this morning and just want to encourage the members and
004everyone in our community that we are directly in partnership with our SRO's with our police chief with the Lawrence Police Department in ensuring that we have all of the safety mechanisms covered both our regular protocol for every day at school and then what happens if we ever needed need to go into an active um an active uh situation. So uh just to reiterate to maintain safe, open, observable and well supervised environments, clear visibility and line of sight uh for staff and students must be maintained at all times. Windows into classrooms, offices, and all other learning spaces must remain uncovered except during an active security lockdown. And we are uh conducting frequent walkthroughs with members of our team, uh with our principles, um with support staff to ensure that we just continue to check that work.
005I do want to give a shout out uh to our Lawrence Police Department and the presence of our SRO's and we appreciate that as we wrap up this year, our SRO's will actually also be adding their expertise and their experience. They know how our buildings operate and they certainly have expertise around uh student and staff and community safety. So they'll be weighing in as well on this work because we're constantly confirming and reconfirming the work that we do to ensure student safety. There are many other areas that we've covered throughout the year. I'm just going to mention a few uh prompt response when concerns arise. We would invite anyone in the community if you feel you have concerns or you've seen something at school, reach out to us directly. As Chief Lockheart said in our
006video from last fall, um uh give us a call and report rather than posting. Uh because if you report it directly, we can take it and address it. If it's out on social media, we may or may not uh get to see that as quickly. Um, again, we require fingerprinting and background checks. That is all done through the Kansas Bureau of Investigations. The part Department of Children and Family Services will include all of that detail. Um also we are all in this environment mandatory reporters and that training occurs regularly for all of us to be reminded of what it means the actual steps of being a mandatory reporter. Uh we have included information and I think you're going to pull that up um on uh our uh website for parents who may have questions. Uh
007we know that uh folks have asked, "Well, what do I say to my child if I just want to check in on how they're doing?" We have guidance here. We also have our counselors. We have Kylie Luckett uh who oversees our mental health endeavor for the district. We have counselors in every building. We have our building principles. Please reach out if you'd like additional guidance on how to speak with your student or how to check in on their safety or if you've seen something that causes your concern. Um, I wanted uh to just take the opportunity as we approach these last four weeks of school to reiterate the work that is ongoing all the time. It's ongoing behind the scenes because it is our commitment uh that 24/7 365 student safety comes first and that's
008the commitment of every single member of this organization on our team and I know it is the desire of our parents, our students and our staff. So with that, uh, members, it is always, um, my great honor to share the superintendent's report and I appreciate the opportunity this evening. Thank you. Thank