Community Letter from our Superintendent, Dr. Donald Antonecchia on School Safety
Dear Parent:
The Pleasantville Schools are not immune from threats
of violence and we have worked diligently with our Village and Police Department to develop comprehensive plans to respond to potential situations. Each of these threats of violence has a related school-law enforcement emergency response plan. In the event it becomes necessary to evacuate a building while school is in session, the plan identifies alternative sites throughout the Village of Pleasantville that will provide safe harbor for our students and staff. For security reasons, we will divulge the location of these sites only after the plan has been carried out.It is important to note that if a threat of violence occurs during non-school hours, school will reopen the following day, if and only if, a careful investigation by law enforcement officials deems it safe for our students and staff to return to classes. Since the timing of such an incident may make it impossible to inform parents and students that there was an unsubstantiated threat, a plan has been put into place to ensure that our students, staff and parents feel secure in returning to school. Communicating this plan to you is the purpose of this correspondence. The
"day-after" plan requires that every person entering and exiting the school building will do so through one designated supervised location. There will also be a police presence in and around the school building. Be assured, once again, that we will only occupy the building if law enforcement officials indicate that it is safe to do so.It is important for you to understand that if your child arrives at school and the aforementioned plan is in place, it indicates that there was a fully investigated threat of violence and that law enforcement officials have deemed that the building is safe and secure. Once school is in session, the building principals will communicate age-appropriate information to fully explain the situation. I, in turn, will communicate with parents via our district
’s media and through a letter.Again I want to assure you that the health and safety of your children remain our highest priority. Thank you for your continued cooperation in keeping our school environment a safe one.
Sincerely,
Dr. Donald Antonecchia
Superintendent of Schools
