Abingdon-Avon CUSD 276
507 N. Monroe, Suite 3, Abingdon, IL 61410
To: A-Town School Community
From: Bill Walters Superintendent
Subject: School Safety/Security
Abingdon-Avon CUSD #276 places student and staff safety as a priority on a daily basis. We will always look for opportunities to improve in this area to ensure that our schools are safe during school hours and at any before or after school activities.
In the case of individuals who volunteer for individual events at Abingdon-Avon, it is our practice to check them against any state or national prohibited adult registry. These databases provide the most current and reliable information. If a person is considered a sex offender by law they will appear on these registries. If we find that an individual appears on either database, and has come onto school property for any reason they will be removed by law enforcement and subsequently arrested for violating child protection laws.
If an individual's name does not appear on the state or national registry, the school district cannot keep them from coming on to school property and attending school events. The only exception that allows a school to prohibit legal citizens from attending school events would be if they created a disruption or acted inappropriately during school hours or at a school event.
As I said earlier, we always look for opportunities to improve our safety practices at Abingdon-Avon CUSD. We are evaluating all of our school safety procedures within the district. ROE #33 will conduct a safety audit on all of our attendance centers. Volunteers of individual events like the Science Fair will be vetted earlier and an alternate list will be developed at the same time. This process would take place two to four weeks prior to the event.
The school district has secured a grant that would allow us to have two school resource officers within our school district on a daily basis starting next year. We take student and staff safety seriously in our school community. We will look at our safety audit and policy review recommendations and develop an action plan to put them into place. We want to learn, improve and move forward.
Bill Walters
Superintendent
A-Town CUSD #276