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Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

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Keeping Students and Staff Safe

What CHCCS does:

  • Partner with Chapel Hill and Carrboro police to either place School Resource Officers at school, or, assign SRO’s to cover multiple schools in close proximity to one another.
  • Standard Response Protocols: A clearly defined set of responses designed to keep students and staff safe in the event of an emergency.
  • Door security: The expectation that interior and exterior doors have a lock that is engaged at all times in case of emergency. Exterior doors are monitored during periods of high use, and exterior doors must never be propped open unless an adult is physically present at the door.
  • Check-in and check-out procedures: Kiosks at every main entrance that track school visitors and run background checks on all individuals who enter a school.
  • Cameras: High-definition surveillance cameras covering the interior and exterior of school buildings.
  • Communication: Staff have access to several different methods of emergency communication both within their building and with 911 response. 
  • Monitoring: Administrators are required to review and assess their building’s safety and adherence to these expectations on a routine basis.
  • Additional signage to make it more clear that the public use of school fields, tracks and playgrounds is not permitted during the school day.
  • Provide staff, students, families and the general public access to an Anonymous Tip Line to share information and concerns confidentially.

How CHCCS trains:

  • District and school-based leaders (principals, assistant principals, district administrators) participate in summer training including daily procedures and emergency responses.
  • District and school-based leaders keep skills fresh by participating in “table top” drills where emergency preparedness is tested under simulated pressure.
  • School-based leaders provide Standard Response Protocol training at the start of each school year. The training is then practiced by staff and students during annual drills. 
  • Year-round, all staff receive training on the importance of door security and emergency procedures.
  • Students are educated on the importance of door security, including age-appropriate lessons on the significance of school safety.

Staff and student support:

Our Student Services team provides a variety of resources to our school administrators, counselors, psychologists, social workers, mental health specialists and nurses. Additionally, some of these resources may be helpful for use at home, too.