By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Superintendent Janice Adams will ask the Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday to consider approving the emergency plans for each school site and the district office.

“The safety of students and staff is of utmost importance, and an essential component of ensuring student and staff safety is the annual development and review of the Comprehensive School Safety/Emergency Operational Plan for the district and individual sites,” Adams wrote in a report to the board.

Each school site has a School Safety Committee, which may be a part of the School Site Council or an independent committee that reports to the SSC.

“As a result of recent school tragedies (nationwide), law enforcement has amended and updated the policies and procedures related to school safety,” Adams wrote. “In particular, the response to intruders on campus and bomb threats has significantly changed.”

To prepare staff for emergency situations, the district is providing training in the new procedures, she said.

Also on the subject of preparation, Supervisor of Maintenance Ron Owens will ask the board to consider and approve the Illness and Injury Prevention Program.

All state employers are obligated to provide and maintain “a safe and healthful workplace for employees,” Owens wrote.

Since 1991 all state employers have been required to have a written Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP), and school districts must have an active Safety Committee, “which the district has in place,” Owens said.

The IIPP must to be reviewed, updated and brought to the board annually, he wrote.

In other business, one of the items on the board’s consent calendar is the second reading and approval of the new closed campus policy. The policy will close the Benicia High campus at lunch time to all ninth- to 11th-grade students, and to seniors not in good standing.

If You Go
The BUSD Board of Trustees will meet at 6:30 p.m. for closed session, and 7 p.m. for open session in the District Board Room, 350 East K St.

Sharing is caring!