Student and Staff Safety
A summary of the layers of preventative measures in Fort Zumwalt School District
Fort Zumwalt School District’s top priority is the safety of students and staff. Administrators and the Board of Education strive to provide a welcoming, safe environment for our students. Creating that environment requires involvement at many levels. Training and preparedness, along with constant vigilance in our procedures, is an important layer. Staff undergoes annual training as well as being part of regular drills with students.
Foremost, however, are the efforts of our families, staff and other community members.
Our staff works hard to know who is in our buildings with our students. The cooperation of parents and other visitors as they sign in and out at the office is greatly appreciated. This includes not opening, or holding open, any door to other visitors when given access to one of our schools.
All employees and volunteers undergo background checks.
All building visitors are required to provide a valid state ID that the Raptor system checks against a national sex offender database to ensure that registered sexual offenders are not entering our buildings.
Any adult signing a student out of one of our buildings must present ID that shows they are a parent, legal guardian or designee as listed in our database.
Our partnerships with law enforcement and community members keep the line of communications open. This includes inviting police officers to lunch who would like to stop by and meet students during that time. Reporting concerning or suspicious behavior to the appropriate authorities, whether it occurs in person or online, is a critical component in keeping our schools safe. If you see or hear something, say something.
In addition in Fort Zumwalt School District:
All of our schools have web-based security cameras. The camera system can be accessed remotely by emergency responders from their bases.
All of our schools have an emergency response radio that provides direct access to local police dispatchers.
All of our schools are equipped with automatic door locks and buzzer entry systems and are locked during school hours.
All of our schools have a mental health professional available on staff.
District and building level administration, along with county and city emergency responders and law enforcement, meet regularly to discuss recent trends in security procedures and review current practices.
At our elementary schools and Early Childhood Center, a glass-strengthening film has been added to fortify entryways.
High school parking lots are gated during the school day with security guards on duty and a School Resource Officer attached by St. Peters or O’Fallon police.
Drug and alcohol as well as violence prevention programming is available in all buildings.
The district Safeline connects students, parents and the community to the district. It can be accessed from any of our websites or from the menu in the Fort Zumwalt App. The FZSD Safeline is available to report urgent information surrounding safety, harassment/bullying, abuse and suspected substance issues. 314-941-0331
The district continues to research and enhance the physical security features of our schools.