SBRSD School Safety and Security Update

A message from Beth Regulbuto, Superintendent of Schools for the Southern Berkshire Regional School District

School Safety and Security Update. I wanted to let you know that ECI, the vendor installing the security equipment, completed their work a little bit earlier than expected over the holiday break. As far as how exactly the system is going to work, please know that no formal decisions have been made as of yet, and there is still training that needs to occur at the administrative level. Faculty and staff will be meeting as a group to talk about the traffic patterns in the building during the day for students/staff members, and we plan to have input from all before changes, if any, are going to be made. The good news is that there really isn’t any news on that situation to report right now!

Parking and bus drop off however is a different story! In keeping with our commitment to create a safe environment for students and staff as one of our highest priorities, it has come to our attention that we need to make changes to the current arrival and dismissal bus dropoff and pick-up procedures. There was a significant issue brought to our attention by our bus drivers and Massini Bus Company concerning student and parent traffic being intermingled with the buses, most notably during the morning drop-off. I have met with the administrative team, the districtwide safety team, the students, and it was a topic at our last public forum, where the consensus was to try a new procedure that will go into effect the week of Jan. 7, 2019.

There is a map of the campus. You can view this map by going here. The map will also be put up on our website, so that those receiving this message will be able to visualize the new traffic pattern. There will be many reminders of this upcoming change, including support by the police department during the first few weeks of this new process. Mr. Devoti and team will meet with all student drivers again on the Friday before this plan goes into effect. The goal is to have only buses in the drop off-line from 7:45 a.m. in the morning until 8:05 a.m. If you arrive on the Sheffield campus prior to 7:45 a.m., staff and students may park anywhere including the lot right outside the Mount Everett main entrance or the in main parking lot. Anyone, student drivers, parents/guardians, or staff, arriving on campus between 7:45 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. will be directed into the main parking lot, as the bus lane will be blocked by sawhorses to ensure that only bus traffic will be allowed in that lane for that time period. Families may drop their students off in the main parking lot, and administrators and staff will be in the crosswalks during drop-off time to help cross students safely into the building.

The community entrance will not be open for public access during drop-off time, but as the practice is now, the Mount Everett main doors and the Undermountain main door will be open for arrival of students. The hope is that this plan is a way to improve traffic flow for our families, that it will help students who are leaving for work get out before the buses, and that there will be a more efficient drop-off process that results in a much safer environment for all students. Thank you to everybody who has been part of creating the solution to this ongoing challenge. Please feel free to talk with your child’s building administrator with any questions you might have on this plan.

I wish all our SBRSD families a very Happy New Year!

Best,

Beth Regulbuto, Superintendent of Schools

(information sent to WSBS from the Southern Berkshire Regional School District for online and on-air use)