Dear Waterford-Halfmoon School Community,
The safety of our students and our school community remains our top priority.
Every unfortunate incident of school or community violence that occurs throughout the country prompts us to evaluate the safety measures that we currently have in place; it also requires us to consider what additional steps we - as a school community - need to take to enhance the safety and security throughout our school district. These tragic events also remind us just how important developing safe and trusting relationships with and among students in our schools is in this process.
We are grateful for our continued partnerships with the Waterford Police Department, the Saratoga County Sheriff's Department, and with all of our first responders who work closely with us in our efforts to prevent violence and respond appropriately to any threat.
As part of the planning for our 2023-24 school budget, the district has included funding for a dedicated, full-time Saratoga County Sheriff School Resource Officer (SRO).
While the SRO was originally planned to begin at WHUFSD during the 2023-24 school year, we’ve been in contact with the Saratoga County Sheriff's office and are pleased to announce that we will be implementing the SRO program on campus starting Monday, April 17.
As an added support, and as a way to further increase communication within our school community, we are also implementing a confidential way for potential safety issues to be reported.
The Safe School Helpline is a confidential way for anyone to report information about situations that might affect safety at our school. Supporting the importance of See Something, Say Something, school community members, including students, parents and guardians, and staff members, are able to contact the Safe School Helpline via phone, text message, or web message any time of the day or night to report concerns about potentially unsafe or disruptive activities or situations within the district. All calls are confidential.
The Safe School Helpline also provides a 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year access to certified mental health crisis counselors who are able to support students who may be experiencing thoughts of self-harm or who are simply having a tough time.