Parent Safety Letter

August 3, 2023

Dear FCPS Parents:

The top priority for the Fayette County Public School System is assuring the safety of our students and staff. As a school district, we are committed to doing everything reasonably possible to protect your children against any threat that may arise while they are in our care. 

Our safety/security focuses on three things: Effective planning, physical security, and coordination with local emergency responders for potential emergency situations. This includes training our staff and students and conducting drills to practice our plans, and strengthening our security technology and infrastructure. Our school system continually spends a considerable amount of time and effort planning and practicing safety and security measures appropriate for dealing with major critical incidents. We have very close relationships and strong lines of communication with local law enforcement agencies, first responders, and other emergency preparedness agencies.

Each individual school has an Emergency Response Plan. These plans are reviewed and approved annually. In general, each plan involves the designation of a crisis management team; development of evacuation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown procedures; maintenance of a portable critical response kit that contains key information and supplies; designation of one or more evacuation sites; provisions for updating the plan; and resources for external assistance before, during and after an event. Our Fayette County Public School system (FCPS) Emergency Plan is reviewed by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) and approved by our Fayette County Emergency Management Director. All school personnel have participated in crisis response training. Fire drills are conducted monthly and both severe weather and lockdown drills are conducted semi-annually. GEMA/HS has conducted a comprehensive security survey of each of our schools and provided recommendations for improvements. We have used the results of these surveys to prioritize budgeting for improvements at each school.

Entry into our schools during school hours is restricted using access control and security vestibules. Parents and other visitors coming into schools must check in at the main office, check in through the CheckMate Visitor Management System and receive temporary identification badges before proceeding. All adults who work with our students during and after school require background checks. All school sites utilize the Centegix CrisisAlert emergency notification system, which gives every staff member the ability to initiate a school-level staff alert or a school-wide emergency lockdown. All staff members wear photo identification badges.

In an effort to improve our school climate, we have implemented the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program in all of our schools, ensuring that our students and staff feel engaged and connected.

We have a District Safety Committee with representatives of each school level (elementary, middle and high), key district staff members, and representatives from local emergency management. We develop goals and set priorities, review our plans, and coordinate our resources in order to have the most effective response to an emergency. School-based student support teams and safety teams support this process at their level. Trained School Resource officers (SROs) are assigned full-time to every high and middle school and in Robert J. Burch, Inman, North Fayette, Sara Harp Minter and Peeples Elementary Schools. Our elementary school 5th graders are supported by the Peachtree City Police Department, who presents the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, who presents the CHAMPS (Choosing Healthy Activities & Promoting Safety) program. The school system works closely with our local law enforcement agencies, county and city Fire and Emergency Services, Emergency Management Agencies, and the Fayette County Health Department in order to be prepared to mitigate and respond to any crisis.

Every school has a detailed plan for the reunification of parents and their children in the event of a major emergency that would require the evacuation of a school. School psychologists, social workers, and counselors have been trained in crisis intervention and are available to students and their families in all emergencies. We conduct reunification exercises to practice this plan and apply lessons learned during these drills to our plans. 

In an effort to provide timely, clear, and accurate information to our parents and families in an emergency, FCPS will use the communications capabilities of our student information system, Infinite Campus, local radio and television stations, and local newspapers, as well as our website www.fcboe.org. It is critically important that family emergency contact information is up to date in Infinite Campus. Parents can update contact information through the Parent Portal. For help, parents should contact their child’s school. Since communication is a two-way process, we are encouraging everyone in our schools to communicate with us if they have a safety concern. If you See Something or Hear Something related to school safety, bullying, harassment, or any potentially unsafe situation, please Say Something by using the 24/7 Toll-free School Safety Hotline (1-877-SAY-STOP), the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (1-844-SAY-NOW), for grades 6 -12 Anonymous Alerts https://tips.anonymousalerts.com/fayettecps  or by reporting it to a school administrator or School Resource Officer. For students at the secondary grade levels (6th -12th), confidential reporting of safety concerns can be made to school administration via Anonymous Alerts by utilizing the following link: https://tips.anonymousalerts.com/fayettecps.

What can you do to help keep our students and staff safe? Start by talking with your child about safety issues and empower them to talk about their concerns and express their feelings. Communicate with your children’s schools about what they are doing regarding safety and get involved with building a positive school climate.

The following website can provide some ideas on how to do this: https://www.mhanational.org/talking-kids-about-school-safety. For more information on emergency procedures and preparedness, please look at the Emergency Preparedness FAQs on this webpage.

Thank you for your continued support and for entrusting the safety of your children to us.