SAFETY PROCEDURES

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER  Sigsbee Charter School employs a full-time School Resource Officer. This individual, an active-duty Key West Police Department officer, will be on campus during school hours and will assist the administration with any emergencies or potential criminal activities.

PERIMETER FENCE  The perimeter fence and all pedestrian gates will be locked during school hours with a single entry point at the front of the school. Visitors should park in the lot and use the buzzer on the pedestrian gate to request access. Only staff are authorized to provide access to visitors. All visitors must report to the main office for a background check and visitor sticker.

IDENTIFICATION BADGES All staff and visitors are asked to wear identification badges or stickers on campus. If you visit outside of regular drop-off and pickup times, you must sign in at the office. If you are visiting, please pick up a badge in the main office and be sure to return it. Please do not be offended if a staff member asks you for identification while on campus. We all have your students’ best interests in mind.

FIRE DRILLS Drills are conducted monthly to establish immediate reactions to situations where students must exit the building. Adults should follow procedures by modeling the correct behavior when on campus. If you are visiting and hear the fire alarm, please exit the building at the nearest door and walk to one of our meeting spots. This is also an excellent time to discuss your family’s fire evacuation plan.

ACTIVE ASSAILANT DRILL/EMERGENCY EVACUATION DRILLS Each classroom will practice additional safety drills and evacuation procedures. The procedures depend on particular scenarios and what is developmentally appropriate for different ages. Parents will be notified in advance if an active assailant drill is conducted during the school day.

FACILITY SAFETY Classroom exterior doors are locked from the outside during school hours; however, children can open any door with one motion from the inside. Shared hallways are also locked to prevent adults from entering areas without our knowledge. Again, please sign in at the main office so we can assist you. No one should be entering hallways during the school day. The office staff is happy to assist you if you need to deliver something to the classrooms.

CROSSWALKS AND SIDEWALKS Thank you for helping us to keep our walkers and bike riders safe. Please continue to model appropriate behavior using the school's crosswalks and sidewalks. Remember that speed limits drop in areas where children are crossing and many of our students live on base and transit to school on foot or by bicycle. Reckless driving may lead to the suspension of driving privileges on base.

RELEASING STUDENTS FROM SCHOOL Students can only depart school with an adult identified on the child’s pick-up list. If you request that another individual be granted permission to pick up your child, you must do so in writing to the main office (leslie.rosch@sigsbee.org). In the case of divorce or separation of the parents, both parents shall have full rights until legal notification is provided to the School limiting the rights of either parent. If a parent or legal guardian is not able to receive a student and the person receiving the student is not an approved person with written permission to receive the student, the School shall make all efforts to contact the parents/legal guardians, and if not the parents/legal guardians, then the previously approved persons. If none can provide permission, the local police or sheriff's office shall be contacted to take custody of the child or determine whether the person attempting to receive the child without written permission may do so. The Director shall also notify the Florida Department of Children and Families.

School-aged children can walk home alone or with friends and siblings unless they are in kindergarten. Kindergarteners must have parents/guardians' permission to walk with a sibling or young friend. No kindergarteners are permitted to walk home alone.

Any changes to student pick-up should be made with 24 hours' notice. Frequent changes to student dismissal routines can lead to confusion.

STUDENTS LEAVING CAMPUS Students are not permitted to leave campus during school hours. It is imperative that we know if you will pick up your child. Students must be signed out in the office by an adult on the child’s pick-up list before leaving campus. Office staff will retrieve the student. Adults are asked not to go to the classroom to collect students leaving campus. We take the safety of the children very seriously, and the entire staff becomes involved in a missing-child procedure if we are unsure of how your child was dismissed.

AFTER SCHOOL HOURS No students or other individuals should be on school property before or after school hours. Trespassing on school property may lead to police intervention.

PROHIBITION AGAINST FIREARMS AND WEAPONS The presence of firearms or weapons poses a substantial risk of serious harm to organization students, staff, and community members. Therefore, possession of firearms or weapons is prohibited on school premises except for law enforcement officials, Safe School Officers, or other such statutorily allowed exceptions. The unauthorized possession of a firearm or weapon on school premises may constitute a criminal act under Florida law and shall be reported to appropriate law enforcement agencies. As used in this policy, “school premises” includes all organization buildings, grounds, vehicles, and parking areas. This prohibition also extends to the sites of school activities, whether or not those school activities are conducted on the organizational property.

Students found violating this policy will be disciplined up to and including reassignment as provided elsewhere within this policy manual. Law enforcement officials will be notified, and those violating this policy will be directed to leave the school premises immediately. Non-students violating this policy will be barred from all school premises and school activities for a period of at least one (1) year. Subsequent violations by the same individual will result in a permanent bar from organizational properties and activities and referral to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

REPORTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 

All domestic violence-related incidents (including threats, police contact, trespass warnings, non-contact orders, restraining orders, protective orders, etc.) must be reported to the school principal or SRO as soon as possible. This information is required from all stakeholders - families, students, staff, faculty, and administration. This procedure is best practice in maintaining a safe school/workplace environment. Information received will be held in the strictest of confidence.