Superintendent addresses school security

PENN YAN--Penn Yan Academy Superintendent Howard Dennis addressed the issue of school security at the Wednesday, March 7 school board meeting.
Dennis said after the shooting Feb. 14 in Parkland, Florida the school has been receiving a number of emails, letters and phone calls regarding safety in the district. Dennis said he has summarized a number of security points the district is utilizing to make sure students and staff are safe and prepared in the case of an emergency. Dennis has posted this letter on the school's website. The key points from the letter about safety protocols include:
• A comprehensive district and school safety plan that is reviewed and revised regularly.
• A safety committee that meets regularly to review our safety plan and address issues across the district.
• A full time, on-campus, school resource officer.
• An on-going partnership between the school's administrative team, Penn Yan Police Department, and Yates County Sheriff to review emergency procedures and drill procedures.
• Drills that are conducted in-house as well as in conjunction with other community agencies.
• Increased mental health services available on campus.
• The use of camera systems inside and outside of all buildings which we continue to update and expand upon.
• The development of secure entrances at the middle and elementary schools as part of the capital project that will begin this summer. The next steps as a district include:
• Continuing to welcome all ideas and thoughts with regard to safety and to review them as they are received.
• Concerns can be sent directly to the superintendent and he will forward them on to the appropriate personnel.
• The district safety committee and administrative team will continue to examine additional ways to safeguard staff and students and seek out training that can benefit staff.
• The goal is to continually evaluate, improve, adapt and update emergency preparedness.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Cathy Milliman and Dennis discussed the draft budget proposal with the board. Milliman detailed a number of areas that were reduced from the previous meeting, Feb. 14.
Milliman said, "We continue to work at coming down."
Dennis said they are hoping to approve the budget at the March 21 meeting, but they haven't heard anything additional from the state, so they tentatively added in the April 11 meeting, which wasn't on the original list of dates.
The board approved the overnight field trip request for the Penn Yan Outdoor Adventure Club to Keene Valley, Adirondack Park on the dates of May 26 through 28. They also accepted donations for the Penn Yan Academy Drama Club of $30 from the United Methodist Church and for the Penn Yan Middle School Drama Club of $246 from Tina Webber.
Approval of $10,000 transferred from the gas and heat for Penn Yan Elementary to the maintenance repair budget was approved by the board.
Upcoming events include April 19 and 20, Penn Yan Elementary will have a drama production in the Penn Yan Academy auditorium at 6:30 p.m. The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra will perform April 26 in the Penn Yan Elementary gymnasium at 9:30 a.m.
The next board meeting will be March 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Penn Yan elementary cafeteria.