Yesterday Tamarac faculty and staff participated in a Regional Professional Development Day. As a part of this training, our district learned about the Questar III BOCES Regional Reunification Plan, a critical initiative to strengthen our school safety response protocols. This training is based on the I Love U Guys Foundation's Standard Reunification Method, a nationally recognized system designed to ensure a safe and organized process for reuniting students with their families in the event of an emergency.
Our staff engaged in learning best practices for reunification, ensuring that we are prepared to respond effectively should the need ever arise. The safety and well-being of our students remain our top priority, and this training is part of our ongoing efforts to enhance school emergency preparedness. Following this training, we will be sharing parent/guardian resources on this topic.
In addition to the reunification training, I want to take a moment to update you on our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our students and staff. As always, school safety remains a top priority, and we continue to assess and strengthen our approach.
Currently, our district has several key safety measures in place, including:
School Resource Officer (SRO) to provide security and build relationships with students.
Worrisome Online Behavior™ Reports complement the evolving needs of School Safety / Threat Assessment (SS/TA) Teams. This service includes the collection of publicly available, open-sourced social media content related to your community, by utilizing various filters, keywords, and geolocational data. WOB™ Reports enhance the safety and welfare of staff, students, and surrounding communities by identifying potential risks or threats in near real-time, allowing for proactive intervention.
STOPit App, which allows students and community members to report concerns confidentially. We currently have this as part of a grant.
We partner with Rensselaer County Mental Health to provide space for a therapist to meet with our students. This is of no cost to the District
A Family Assistance Counselor to help support students and families facing challenges. We share this service with Averill Park.
We have recently joined the new Rensselaer County Threat Assessment Management Team (TAM), strengthening our ability to identify and respond to potential threats effectively by collaborating with multiple agencies in the country.
The upcoming Capital project will also include some strategic improvements to the front entrance to the secondary school and camera upgrades.
As we move forward, our District will continue evaluating additional ways to improve student access to mental health resources and ensure that our safety protocols remain proactive and responsive. We appreciate your continued support and partnership in maintaining a safe and secure learning environment for all. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Angelina Maloney
