Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Staff,
In light of the tragic events at Chardon High School on February 27, 2012, I am writing to request your continued vigilance, support, and open communication with the Rocky River City School District. I am asking you to proactively communicate and report possible violence, criminal misconduct, threats and bullying.
One of the most effective ways to prevent violence, criminal activity, threats, and bullying in schools is for communication (reporting) to take place between students/parents and school personnel. Please report information to the building principal, teachers, and/or staff. Collectively we can work to prevent violence, criminal misconduct, threats and bullying. Be assured, district personnel take all reports of violence, criminal activity, threats, and bullying seriously. Once a threat is reported, district personnel investigate and involve the Rocky River Police Department (RRPD) to prevent any such acts in our schools.
Knowing that school personnel take all threats of violence seriously, the Rocky River City School District has a safety plan that is updated, reviewed, and ready for use when needed. This important, secure, and detailed plan includes the practice of safety drills, such as building lockdowns and evacuations, as well as other necessary action steps. Additionally, the safety plan has been reviewed by the Rocky River Police and Fire Departments and can be jointly implemented when needed.
Being proactive in sharing and reporting information about violence, criminal misconduct, threats and bullying is the first step, but additional measures are in place. The Rocky River City School District has coupled our school safety plan with other tools to help keep all children safe at school. For example, the district has implemented the Safe School Helpline. The Safe School Helpline accepts anonymous information and reports about violence, criminal misconduct, threats and bullying. Once a report is submitted, school personnel are immediately notified. School personnel review the report, investigate the information, contact the RRPD if appropriate, take action, and report back to the caller about the measures that were taken and/or to seek additional information. You can reach the Safe School Helpline at 1.800.418.6423 extension 359 or at www.safeschoolhelpline.com. Please use the Safe School Helpline to report and prevent violence, criminal misconduct, threats and bullying in our schools.
Additionally, effective with the 2011-2012 school year, the district has partnered with the Rocky River Police Department to have a School Resource Officer (SRO) at the high school on a daily basis. The SRO is a very important part of district security not only at Rocky River High School but in all of our buildings. The SRO has been involved in all Rocky River City School District buildings to investigate reports and to take action when necessary. Please contact School Resource Officer Mike Bernhardt at 440.356.6810 or via email at bernhardt.mike@rrcs.org to share information or to make a report.
The Rocky River City School District also has secured entrances at all school buildings. The recently opened office at Kensington Intermediate School provides a new level of security and a camera entrance is in place at Goldwood until the new passive-entry entrance is built as part of the current construction project. Rocky River Middle School has a secured entrance and Rocky River High School has a staffed security entrance in place until the new secured entrance is constructed.
District administrators, faculty, staff, and the School Resource Officer are committed to investigating all reports of possible violence, criminal misconduct, threats and bullying in our schools.
Parents and guardians, please review this information with your children as appropriate.
In closing, we will continue to use AlertNow email to inform and update parents and guardians as needed. In an emergency, we will also use the AlertNow phone system for immediate notifications.
Thank you,
Michael G. Shoaf, Ed.D.
Superintendent
