How Valley View Is Keeping Schools Safe: Leroy Brown

VVSD School Safety Coordinator Leroy Brown's back-to-school safety message:

One of the greatest acts of trust performed every day is when parents send their children to school, secure in the knowledge their child is going to school in an environment of safety, caring, and learning.

In Valley View School District 365U, parents and students know that we take safety seriously and we are always seeking ways to continue to provide one of the safest school districts in the country. Our safety plan is more than just words. We have a plan that we practice, because we know that practice does not make perfect. Practice creates good habits and we always want to be in the habit of making the right safety decisions for everyone who ever enters any of our schools.

Every stakeholder in Valley View has a responsibility for helping maintain our high level of safety. Our primary defense is the duty for everyone to speak up and tell any of our staff members if they see something that isn’t quite right. Everyone has an obligation to “say something if they see something.”

In addition, we have put in place several other initiatives to insure the safety of our students and staff.
We have partnered with both the Bolingbrook and Romeoville Police Departments and the Will County Sherriff to develop a comprehensive security and safety plan. We encourage law enforcement officers to visit all our schools so they have a thorough understanding of the layout of our buildings. We also meet with law enforcement on a regular basis to talk over strategies and continually improve our practices.

As for hardware, Valley View School District 365U, has installed lockdown alarms in every one of our schools. When the alarm is activated, an alert is sent to law enforcement and the entire building that a lockdown has been initiated. Through extensive training, our staff knows what to do to keep students safe until law enforcement arrives to assist.

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Outside we have installed blue lockdown indicator lights at the main and secondary entrances and all corners of each school that will alert anyone coming onto the school grounds that the school is in a hard or soft lockdown. This is especially important if any type of incident occurs during student arrival or dismissal.
All of our schools have audible alarms on secondary exit doors including main office panels that will alert staff that someone is opening a door. In addition, we have placed security cameras near our doors that allow us to see who is opening a door. This creates a safer environment because we can see people who may be attempting to enter a school.

We are also working with the police to put a camera monitoring system in place that will allow the police department to monitor the schools from their squad cars. Should a threat occur, police will have the advantage of being able to see inside the building, assess any situation that may arise, and then conduct the proper response.

Every classroom door in Valley View is equipped with a lock that can be activated from inside the classroom. This way, a teacher does not have to open the door nor exit the classroom to lock the door.

We take great pride in our safety record in Valley View School District. At the same, we are never complacent because we understand the community is trusting us with what matters most, the safety and security of students.

VVSD School Safety Coordinator/Bolingbrook Village Trustee Leroy Brown. Image via Patch file/by Shannon Antinori