AP 325
Background
The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that students and their parents/guardians are informed of potentially dangerous situations or circumstances within the district and to authorize employees to act to protect students and maintain order. This section describes potential dangers and the procedure to be followed when an incident affecting student safety is reported to the school principal or vice-principal.
Procedures
1. The safety of students is of primary importance. To protect students from criminal incidents, every effort will be made to inform students and their parents or guardians of potential dangerous situations. Principals and vice-principals, under the School Act, have the authority to maintain order in the school or at school functions.
2. All district schools are closed campuses. All visitors are required to first report to the school office. School personnel may require identification from any person on school property.
3. The principal (or designate) may refuse to allow persons with no legitimate business to enter school property, and may seek police assistance if necessary to have an undesirable person ejected from school property.
4. Section 177 of the School Act provides authority to the school principal to ban, in writing, an individual from school property who has seriously disrupted the proceedings of the school or an official school function. AP 340 – Prohibiting Access to School Property – Maintenance of Order outlines the procedures to be followed when a person is excluded from school property under this section.
5. The school principal is responsible for implementing safety rules and regulations in their schools and for reporting potentially unsafe conditions to the Superintendent or designate.
6. When an incident affecting student safety is reported to the school principal, he/she will immediately report the incident to the designated school liaison officer of the Abbotsford Police Department and to the Superintendent or designate. The Superintendent or designate, at his/her discretion and in consultation with the local police, will alert other schools in the general vicinity.
7. The District Standard Emergency Operating Procedures Manual outlines steps staff must take in mitigating a wide range of school-related emergencies.
Reference
- School Act Section 177 (1, 2, 3 & 4)
- Manual of School Law K-12
- District Standard Emergency Operation Procedures Manual
- Board Policy 15 ‘Student Code of Conduct’
- AP 340 – Prohibiting Access to School Property – Maintenance of Order
(Last Revised: January 2017)