Safety Procedures & Protocols
Schools take care, for a few brief hours every day, of the most important people in our worlds. In Williams Bay we have strong partnerships: our parents care, our staff is prepared and committed, and our children come to school wanting to do their best. Our primary focus will always be the safety of our learners. We have plans and protocols in place to prepare our schools for various types of situations and to keep our students safe.
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Secure Entry
Williams Bay Elementary School and Williams Bay Middle/High School have locked, secure entrances--external doors are locked during the school day--essentially putting our school in what's commonly called "SECURE" (outer doors locked) at all times. Glass panes in the entrance areas and exterior windows are covered with a special polymer designed to prevent shattering.
WAVE System Panic Buttons
All our buildings are equipped with direct notification systems allowing members of our staff to connect directly to law enforcement. WAVE system buttons are located in strategic locations throughout the district so that law enforcement is immediately notified in an intruder/crisis situation. Imagine a situation where many individuals are calling emergency services at the same time; this system, so to speak, allows us to jump the line, and share the location of the crisis immediately. In testing, we’ve learned that response to our schools is very quick, and we know that Williams Bay Police and Walworth County Sheriff's Department will immediately enter our facilities in a crisis.
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All adults in the Williams Bay School District are committed to safety. The district has a comprehensive emergency response plan that is reviewed with all staff on a yearly basis. Each school has a crisis response team that convenes during emergency or crisis situations to plan the school or district response and how to best support students and staff. The administrative team regularly refines and improves the emergency response plan so that our plans adhere to best practices we've learned from FEMA, WBPD, and WBFD, and others. The administrative team gathers feedback from staff after each drill, severe weather incident, or other real/practical concern. The team debriefs and focuses on identifying process improvements. Procedures are discussed and practiced throughout the district. We also meet regularly with our community partners in the local fire and police departments.
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Each Spring in coordination with our partners in the Williams Bay Police Department, we perform reviews of both our entry/exit processes, school safety plans, and conduct walkthroughs of the entire district using a Site-Based Assessment form adapted from another state agency. Local law enforcement helps us ensure that we are aligning with evolving best practices in facility safety and noting any safety concerns to rectify or enhance what is in place. The world of school safety is evolving so quickly, that we want to ensure we are asking our local experts about how we can continue to improve.
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The Williams Bay School District has a close relationship with the Williams Bay Police Department. We have a dedicated school resource officer that is highly visible and an exceptional partner in the day-to-day safety of our schools. The police department advises us regularly and is integral to our training and preparation. Officer Ben Borgen actively moves about the elementary and middle/high school and is rarely in his office. You will typically find him in classrooms or common spaces interacting with students and staff. We also support and encourage other day-shift officers to visit our schools for lunch, or just to check in. The night-shift officers are also encouraged to stop by during evening visits to interact with students and the public. These are informal visits and promote our community partnerships as well as visibility.
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Williams Bay Elementary School and Williams Bay Middle/High School perform emergency drills on a regular basis. Our schools conduct safety drills that exceed or meet statutory requirements. Fire and tornado drills are required by law every month, and twice a year, respectively.
In addition to the fire and tornado drills, our staff and students plan and practice situations where we may need to "secure" (get inside, lock outside doors, increase awareness), "lockdown" (locks, lights, and out of sight), "hold" (in your classroom, clear halls), "evacuate" (to another classroom, area in the school, or to an alternate site). Crisis or safety drills are also required in our state, and we perform a minimum of two safety-related drills a year in the District. We call these drills "hold," "secure," "lockdown," "evacuate," and "shelter."
Each of our schools' plan, prepare, and drill for these types of events along with our School Resource Officer and the Williams Bay Police Department who supports, observes, tests, and/or advises us on these protocols.
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Our District is committed to providing ongoing training and professional development to our staff and students around high-level safety and security measures and practices. The Emergency Crisis Plans are reviewed on a yearly basis with staff. Staff have practiced drills and evacuations with law enforcement and practiced various scenarios.
Selected staff receive special workshops in verbal de-escalation and student restraint. Non-Crisis Violent Intervention (NCVI) Training, evidence-based training based on the latest evidence on brain and behavior. Trained staff members learn decision-making skills to match the level of the response to the risk of the crisis, focusing on the least-restrictive response to ensure the care, welfare, safety and security of students.
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By now most have heard the term "Threat Assessment" on television, especially after a traumatic event. We often hear that there should have been a "Threat Assessment" completed. Here in Williams Bay the purpose of the District Threat Assessment team and process is to determine if an individual poses, or may reasonably pose, a threat of violence to self, others, or the Williams Bay community and to intervene to avert the threat and maintain the safety of the situation. The team responds to behaviors exhibited by students prior to a critical incident in an attempt to prevent violence so that the Williams Bay School District remains a safe and secure working and learning environment.
School violence prevention depends on all of us within, the Williams Bay School District community, to notice and refer potentially worrisome behaviors or situations before they result in harm. A person that receives help sooner, rather than later, may be less likely to experience more severe symptoms or cause harm to self or others. Thus, a threat assessment is a supportive process, not a disciplinary or punitive one. The goal is to create what looks like a treatment/care/communication plan.
Our District Threat Assessment Team includes the District Administrator, building principals, student service staff members, and the SRO or other law enforcement representative. This team works with building-specific staff to take a comprehensive look at the needs of a student or staff member to keep them and others safe and out of harm's way.
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Please know our staff is ready and available to help students who are fearful or uncomfortable. Please do not hesitate to encourage them to reach out to us, so we may help your children through this time. For more information about counseling services, please visit our Student Services webpage.
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Williams Bay School District (WBSD) filters and monitors student Chromebook usage using GoGuardian. In addition, the WBSD allows parents to use GoGuardian Parent, a mobile app designed to help keep parents/ guardians aware of their child's activity on school-issued devices. For more information visit: GoGuardian Parent App.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Department of Public Instruction have launched a program called "Interact!" that gives parents resources to have conversations with their children about internet safety.
Interact is an online e-course created for parents and guardians to complete with their children with the goal of initiating online safety discussions at home. For more information about the Interact program visit: https://dpi.wi.gov/internet-safety/new-interactive-safety-resource-available
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Within the Williams Bay School District students learn that if they See or Hear Something, SAY SOMETHING. Anyone that learns about concerning or suspicious behaviors needs to speak up and Say Something! Tell a trusted adult or contact the Williams Bay Police Department (WBPD) immediately so we can keep bad things from happening here in Williams Bay. But if someone doesn't feel comfortable talking to a trusted adult or the WBPD you can use the Speak Up, Speak Out-Wisconsin (SUSO) tip line.
IT IS LIFE CHANGING, LIFE SAVING, & CONFIDENTIAL.
Created by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety (OSS), the SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT Resource Center is a comprehensive, one-stop place to turn with important concerns, offering a Threat Reporting System. The center allows people in Wisconsin to report a tip, and for school administrators, and law enforcement to receive threat assessment consultation, crisis response, and best practices for school safety. Speak Up and Speak Out by reporting a tip when you, a friend, or the community needs help. The SUSO Resource Center will respond confidentially and quickly to make sure we can get help to someone who is struggling or hurting.
Students, parents, school staff, or any community members can submit a school safety concern or threat via the SUSO website. You may also make a report using your smartphone by downloading the SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT app from the Apple Store or Google Play or by calling 1-800-MY-SUSO-1 to speak to a live, trained dispatcher. Text messages will not be received. To place Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) calls, dial 711. Resource center staff work around-the-clock to respond to tips and to deploy a response locally by communicating directly with school administrators, law enforcement, and counselors. The tip form can be automatically translated into many different languages.
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Here are a variety of curated resources for parents.
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