Schodack CSD Community, 

Every year we must practice a certain amount of safety drills to ensure our students and faculty/staff know how to respond in the unlikely event of an emergency in our schools. Starting this year, the New York State Education Department requires school districts to notify families within one week before a safety drill occurs. 

As a reminder, the two types of safety drills we practice in our schools are Evacuation Drills and Lockdown Drills. 

  • Evacuation Drills – often just called Fire Drills – are when everyone in the school practices leaving the building after the building-wide alarm goes off. Students are escorted outside to a safe location and distance from the building. Once the drill is over, everyone returns inside. We practice these drills in the event of an emergency – such as a fire – that would require getting everyone out of the building quickly and safely.
  • Lockdown Drills are announced over the PA system and are always clearly stated as drills. Everyone in the school then follows the lockdown protocols of staying out of sight, staying quiet and in a barricaded or locked area for the duration of the drill. Police officers then go around the school to inspect how well those protocols are being followed, taking note of what, if anything, could be improved. We practice these drills in the event of an active threat inside the building where evacuation would not be the safest option.    

This message serves as our first notification to you this year about upcoming safety drills and we will notify you within one week of all future drills by email and text message alert. Next week (September 16-20) the following drills will take place:

  • Castleton Elementary School: One lockdown drill and evacuation/fire drills
  • Maple Hill Jr./Sr. High School: One lockdown drill and an evacuation/fire drill

Other than this general information, dates and times of the drills will not be announced in advance so we can properly assess how prepared everyone is in the event of a real emergency.

If you have questions about safety drills, please contact your school’s administrative team.

Sincerely,

Jason M. Chevrier
Superintendent
Schodack Central School District