Falls Church City School Board to Hear Update on School Safety

School safety and security will be on the agenda for the next Falls Church City School Board meeting.  Although the annual report has been on the calendar for some time, it happens to come on the heels of Monday’s deadly school violence in Pennsylvania.

 “School safety and security are always on our priority list, but the school shootings in Pennsylvania certainly remind us that we can take nothing for granted,” said school board chairman Craig Cheney.  “As a parent, I personally understand what’s at stake, and my heart goes out to the Pennsylvania victims and their families.”

 The Falls Church City Public Schools has a strong working relationship with the Falls Church City Police Department.  Officer Steve Rau is assigned to the FCCPS and closely monitors the school environment for any potential threats.  In addition, retired Falls Church City police officer Paul Whitney serves as the school division’s safety consultant.  Both Rau and Whitney serve on the committee that annually reviews the division’s established emergency preparedness and response plan for situations ranging from weather emergencies to security threats.  While it's difficult, if not impossible, to predict if or when an emergency situation will take place, being prepared helps ensure the safety of all students and staff.

In addition to the annual plan review, a safety audit is conducted at all four schools each spring, and safety recommendations are made to the school board.   A progress report on the spring 2006 safety audit recommendations will be delivered to the school board at its regular meeting on October 11^th at 7:30 p.m. at the Chambers at City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia.  All school board meetings are open to the public, and may be viewed live on FCC-TV Cox Cable Channel 12/RCN Channel 2.

By law, every school is required to conduct regular practice drills to help ensure student safety in an emergency.  The drills required by law are fire drills and tornado/severe weather drills.  In addition, the FCCPS has added lockdown drills and shelter-in-place drills to its emergency preparedness plan.  These drills are directly related to the times in which we live and are designed to protect students and staff members in the event of a crime committed near or in a school or in the event of an unanticipated environmental threat, such as a nearby chemical spill.