The safety and wellness of students and employees has been a top priority since Canyons District’s founding days 16 years ago. The focus on security is the reason more than 500 new surveillance cameras were installed in just the past year and that plans for security vestibules have been made for every school building in the District. Those two initiatives are among the myriad ways CSD is thinking safe as we approach America’s Safe Schools Week, according to the very people who oversee safety programs and procedures in Canyons.

In this episode of Connect Canyons, Ryan Jakeman, CSD Assistant Director of Facilities Services and the District’s Risk Management Coordinator, talks about how CSD has fortified buildings — with electronic badge access, automatic locks on doors, cameras, security codes, and a drill schedule so school communities know what to do in an emergency.  In accordance with Utah law, CSD follows the standardized Standard Response Protocol, which details what schools should do in the event of an on-campus intruder or an evacuation.

“Every police department should be on the same page,” says Draper police detective Corey Smith, a School Resource Officer at Corner Canyon High School. “I think it’s great we have access to those policies, and I feel, as a police officer, Canyons District has been very open to our input as a department.”

The SRPs do away with phrases that would be confusing, such as a “soft lockdown.”  “It helps parents to know, when they’re sitting in traffic and they’re listening to news radio and hear a report that there’s an elementary school in Secure status, they know what it means,” says CSD Communications Director Jeff Haney. “There isn’t a district that is different from others and that’s so helpful.”

CSD is hard at work implementing HB84, which identifies how schools across the state should be adding additional security measures. HB84 requires the implementation of an armed guardian at every school, as well as wearable panic-button-like devices for teachers. Currently, two elementary schools in Canyons District are conducting pilot programs with wearable devices for teachers in order to choose the best product to benefit Canyons schools.

“It’s great when the legislature pays attention to safety and security measures,” Haney says. “When they identify ways that everyone can take steps forward to keep school communities as prepared as possible in the event of any kind of emergency.”

Whether it’s America’s Safety School Week, or a typical Tuesday, safety remains at the forefront of Canyon’s mission to enable students to graduate college- and career-ready in an environment that is safe and welcoming. “We’re always pushing,” says Jakeman. “We’re always looking for something better and not just sitting back on the old status quo when it comes to the safety of our students and teachers.”