School Safety and Security Information

The safety of all students and staff is paramount to the Palmyra Area School District. The district is committed to creating a positive and safe learning environment. The first step in this process it to ensure all students feel valued and connected to the larger school community as well as the teachers and adults in our buildings. Additionally, the district provides a wide range of established processes and trainings, and maintains on-going communication with local law enforcement and first responders. For more detailed information on the district’s safety measures, please click on the topics in the right sidebar. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s building principal or the Superintendent’s Office at (717) 838-3144.

District Safety Measures

District Safety Measures

The Palmyra Area School District takes many steps to ensure the safety and security of our students. As a district, attention has been given to the safety of our facilities and the procedures needed to ensure student safety and mitigate a tragedy. A few of the areas that have been focused upon are as follows:

All-Hazards Plan: The district’s all hazards plan provides a framework for responding to a variety of disruptive and potentially dangerous situations.

Building Entrances: During the school day, all school entrances are locked, and visitors can only enter via an entrance that is monitored by a camera/intercom system. Office staff are trained to ask questions of visitors prior to allowing entrance into the building. Upon entering through secured vestibules, visitors are required to sign in and are required to wear visitor badges or be escorted by staff.

Partnerships with First Responders & Emergency Management Coordinators: The various Police Departments and Lebanon County’s Emergency Management Team work collaboratively to provide support to the district. Police department officials & emergency management coordinators are invited to meet with district administration several times per year to review relevant safety related issues and update procedures. The district also maintains and annually updates written memorandums of understanding with local law enforcement agencies.

Risk Vulnerability Assessment- The Palmyra Area Schools District partners with IU13 to have building facilities and safety procedures checked by a safety expert. Results are reviewed by a district team and if needed, changes are made.

Student/Staff Safety Drills: All schools routinely complete multiple mandated safety and security drills each year. All schools complete fire drills, annual weather emergency drills, annual evacuation drills, and annual interior or exterior threat drills.

Student/Staff Trainings: All district personnel are trained, using nationally recognized protocols to respond to intruders or other potentially violent events.

Video Surveillance Cameras: Cameras are positioned throughout buildings and on district facilities. These cameras provide the ability to monitor incidents in real time or access recorded video.

Safe2Say Something

In June 2018 Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 44 of 2018 into law. A key mandate of the law required the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General to implement a school safety anonymous tip program. In partnership with a non-profit organization, Sandy Hook Promise, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General activated the Safe2Say Something (S2SS) anonymous tip line on January 14, 2019.

Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention program that teaches students, teachers, and administrators how to recognize warning signs and signals and report threats via the anonymous reporting system. Specifically, the program educates participants to:

Recognize the signs and signals of at-risk behaviors (especially within social media)
Take every sign and signal seriously; act quickly to get help by talking to a trusted adult, or report it anonymously through the S2SS Office of the Attorney General 24/7 Crisis Center, mobile app, or website
Respond to and manage the submitted tip via a school-based threat assessment teams comprised of educators and administrators

In brief, once a tip is submitted via the phone, website, or mobile app, a 24/7 crisis center analyzes the tip and categorizes the tip as life safety or non-life safety. Within seconds, appropriate contacts are made, including texts, emails, and/or calls to the school team. Law enforcement is contacted, if necessary. If you would like to report a concern, and do not feel comfortable reaching out directly to the building level administrator, please call: 1-844-SAF2SAY, search your mobile apps for “Say Something Anonymous Reporting System, of click here for the website.

Threat Assessment Team

Pennsylvania School Code now requires each school entity to establish at least one Threat Assessment Team. A threat assessment is a prevention strategy and fact-based process for the assessment of and intervention with students whose behaviors may indicate a threat to the safety of the student, other students, school employees, school facilities, the community, or others.

Using best practices in the threat assessment process, trained team members, work together with the school community to identify student threats before they become acts of violence and to provide assistance, including the use of community supports, to students through early identification.

The key responsibilities of the Threat Assessment Team are to: a) provide materials for students, school employees, and parents/guardians; b) assess and respond to reports of threats from varying resources; make appropriate determinations, referrals, and notices; and c) provide information necessary for annual reporting to the School Board of Directors.

In the Palmyra Area School District, the following staff are trained members of the District’s Threat Assessment Team: Superintendent/School Safety & Security Coordinator, Assistant Superintendent, Building Principals & Assistant Principals, Director of Pupil Services, Director of Special Education, Director of Technology, School Nurse, and Social Workers. Each building also has a threat assessment team to provide additional support to the District Team. Building members may include some or all the following members: Building Principal & Assistant Principals, School Counselor, School Psychologist, School Nurse, Special Education Supervisor

For more information about the Threat Assessment Team at your child’s building, please contact the building principal. For additional information on the District Threat Assessment Team and process, please contact the Superintendent’s Office at 717-838-3144.