By Dana Williams
‹ ranging from violent incidents to fires ‹ and presented an overview of its District Safety Plan at this month¹s school board meeting.
The plan is a requirement for school districts under the New York State Education Commissioner 155.17 regulation, which says that school officials must prepare and annually update its emergency management plan, and school safety plan. One of the District Safety Plan¹s purposes is to dictate what specific information must be included in its School Safety Plans. The School Safety Plans, however, are confidential and only certain officials are entitled to receive copies of them.
³The district is required by the state to provide copies of the District Safety Plan, all school building safety plans, and the code of conduct to the chief of the fire department, and officer in charge of the local police agency,² explained Mike Sheehan, the district¹s director of facilities. ³In Baldwin, that is Chief Douglas Wiedmann of the Baldwin Fire Department, and Inspector Rick Capece, the commanding officer of the First Precinct.²
Sheehan updated board members at the Aug. 8 meeting, saying that members of the district¹s Health and Safety Committee revised the District Safety Plan by adding detailed maps of Baldwin schools and their surrounding areas, and updating the district¹s personnel information, among other revisions.
The report comes after a string of incidents shook the district during the 2006-07 year, including several bomb threats resulting in a few lockdowns and a large brawl at the high school that had many parents on edge.
According to Baldwin¹s District Safety Plan, school cancellation, early dismissal, lockdowns and lockouts are some of the protective measures that school officials must include in its School Safety Plans to handle the type of incidents that occurred during the last school year. The District Safety Plan also lists resources such as buses, district vehicles, generators, and first aid equipment, among others, that should be utilized by school officials during an emergency.
Baldwin schools in Œgood standing¹
Sheehan also presented the School Facility Report Card, where he informed board members that Baldwin schools are in ³good standing.² The school district is required to complete the report card each year under the New York State Education Department¹s Rebuild Schools to Uphold Education or RESCUE program. One of the program¹s goals is to keep residents informed about the condition of the school buildings in their district.
There are five possible building ratings, with excellent being the highest rating and unsatisfactory being the lowest rating. Baldwin schools rated in the middle with both good and satisfactory ratings.
³The majority of our schools received a good rating and the district is in full compliance with regulations,² Sheehan added. ³Excellent is the highest rating, but based on the age of our buildings, that rating will never happen.²
School officials are required to conduct a Building Condition Survey every five years, along with a yearly inspection, Sheehan said. The current school rating is from the last Building Condition Survey taken in 2005.
Sheehan also explained that Steele Elementary School, which was built in 1916, is the oldest school in Baldwin, while Baldwin Middle and Meadow Elementary Schools are the newest schools in the district. Both schools have original construction dates in 1962. The average age of all of the schools in the district, Sheehan said, is 61.
The report also showed that the estimated insurance market value of Baldwin schools is $123 million. Baldwin High School is valued the highest at $41 million, and Milburn Elementary School is valued the lowest at $3.8 million. The latter is also the smallest school in the district with an estimated 25,000 square feet, and the high school is the largest with an estimated 250,000 square feet. The total district square footage is approximately 800,000.
