As part of the District’s ongoing commitment to ensure the safety of students, staff and visitors, the Rocky Point School District has implemented the use of three enhanced, proactive electronic security resources and is expanding its security and mental health support staff.
Earlier this summer, at no expense to the District, Suffolk County provided the District with access to a limited number of Rave Panic Button app licenses, which have already been activated districtwide. Additionally, on July 23, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced that additional Rave apps would be made available, at no cost, to all Suffolk County school districts. Through this expanded program the District will be able to vastly increase the number of users with direct access to this app, which enables users to immediately contact first responders through the 911 dispatch system, with just the click of a button.
The Rave app has separate buttons for various types of emergencies, including fire and medical, to ensure the proper type of responders are notified. Once a report is made through the system, all school personnel with the app will be notified of the threat or emergency situation. The District plans to make the newly provided apps available to all personnel throughout each school, once the licenses are received from the County.
“As a district we are continually examining ways to enhance our school infrastructure and practices in order to best safeguard our students and staff against dangers,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael F. Ring said. “We are extremely grateful to receive this added resource from Suffolk County and believe it will be a true asset to our multileveled approach to school safety. In an emergency situation every second matters, and this new app could help make a significant difference.”
In addition, all schools in the District have been equipped with the electronic SMART911Facility at no cost from Suffolk County.
SMART911Facility is a secure and convenient way to share critical information about the school buildings with 911 and other responders during an emergency, significantly improving emergency response. The web-based SMART911Facility Profile management portal allows the District to upload and manage information and people related to its school facilities. The information contained within the Facility Profile is what becomes available to 911 call takers and first responders when either 911 is dialed from the site (wireless or landline calls) or when someone associated with the campus activates the Rave Panic Button system.
Furthermore, this month the District implemented the ReportIt app. This anonymous reporting system allows school personnel, students, parents and other community members to instantly engage with administration and security partners, all from a single app. Users are able to report incidents of bullying, social media observations, security or suspicious activity concerns both anonymously and confidentially. To download the app and to make a report, please visit
https://reportit.com/.
“As a school community, the information we receive from all stakeholders is crucial to our mission of creating a safe, secure and productive learning environment,” Dr. Ring said. “This electronic resource will further our work to encourage all individuals that if they see something, say something.”
Upon the recommendation of the District’s Health and Safety Committee, the Board of Education has approved the hiring of additional mental health professionals to support the social and emotional needs of students. These two additional social workers will be deployed to enhance the District’s existing staff of mental health professionals.
Additionally, in order to augment the District’s existing security staff, the Board of Education has approved the hiring of two additional full-time and two additional part-time security guards. These guards will be used to provide additional coverage during the school day as well as afterschool, when buildings are used for co-curricular and community activities.
As the District continues to examine ways to enhance its security protocols, the District has submitted an application to the Suffolk County Police Department indicating the District’s desire to participate in the 2018 COPS Office STOP School Violence Prevention Grant program. While only an application at the current time, if selected, the proposed project would allow the Suffolk County Police Department to purchase and install a Virtual Private Network (VPN) router to establish an independent and secure network connection between our schools and the Suffolk County Police Department for the purpose of accessing the District’s security system, including but not limited to cameras and access controls, in the event of an emergency situation.