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Safety and Security

Providing our students with an environment that is SAFE AND CONDUCIVE TO LEARNING is paramount to the Elizabethtown Area School District. Ongoing reviews of our operations, facilities, and safety protocols are constantly occurring. In addition, the District has an Emergency Operations Plan that deals with situations ranging from a medical emergency in a school to a serious incident at Three Mile Island and everything in between. While we cannot share the details of our responses as it would compromise our safety measures, we can share a few ways in which we foster school safety.

  • ENTRANCES: During the school day, all entrances to our schools, K-12, are locked. Visitors must enter each facility through a single visitor's entrance. Each entrance has a camera/intercom/buzzer system that allows office staff the chance to see and communicate with visitors prior to “buzzing” open the door.
  • SECURED VESTIBULES: Most of our schools have a secured vestibule that leads into the school's office rather than the school's hallways. Within all our vestibules, we have an individual visitor management system that allows visitors to check-in and out of the build. Upon arriving at your child’s school, you will be required to scan your own Photo ID. The system instantly captures the name, photo, and birth date of the visitor. When this successfully occurs, the software compares the identity of the visitor with the national sex offender registry. If a positive match occurs, district personnel will be immediately and discreetly alerted.  To prevent false positives, the system has the ability to compare a photograph of the actual registered sex offender to the visitor. Ongoing and future renovation projects will all entail the addition of a secured vestibule to those schools without.
  • SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER: In a collaborative initiative with the Elizabethtown Police Department, the District employees a school resource officer (SRO). A SRO is a sworn law enforcement officer assigned to a school on a long-term basis. The SRO is specifically trained in and performs three main functions: law enforcement officer, law-related counselor, and law-related educator. The SRO is based out of Elizabethtown Area High School, with access and a presence across all of our schools in cooperation with all four municipalities.
  • A.L.I.C.E.: Elizabethtown Area School District has employed the A.L.I.C.E. program (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) since 2010. The A.L.I.C.E. program has placed more tools in the hands of our faculty, staff, and students in the event the traditional, and still relevant “lockdown” is not enough to ensure personal well being. The A.L.I.C.E. program has provided our District with an enhanced approach to school safety.
  • SAFETY DRILLS: Each of our schools routinely practices a series of drills as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education including ones for fire and severe weather. In addition, the District conducts age-appropriate armed intruder drills.
  • ACTIVE SHOOTER TRAINING BY LAW ENFORCEMENT: Elizabethtown Area School District is a host sight – while school is not in session generally over the summer - for local law enforcement to conduct mock active shooter training. Local law enforcement and volunteers including some of our teachers and administrators take part in the drill.
  • HOTLINE: The District employs a hotline allowing students/community members to anonymously share information with District officials in an easy manner that is non-threatening to the tipster.
  • THREATS: District administration has encouraged parents to talk with their children about the seriousness of threats and the importance of reporting suspicious activities, threats, or disturbing information to a trusted adult. Students should also be aware that law enforcement agencies are pursuing prosecution when such threats are intended as pranks. See Something, Say Something.
  • PARTNERSHIPS: The Elizabethtown Area School District has an outstanding relationship with first responders including all three local police departments, our volunteer fire companies, and EMS. Information and conversations occur often and we work hand-in-hand to resolve situations as appropriate and necessary.

Please feel free to contact the Elizabethtown Area School District's Safety and Security Office by e-mailing Garret Rain, Safety and Security Coordinator at garret_rain@etownschools.org or calling 717-367-1521, ext. 21658 with any questions you may have regarding safety and security at our schools.