Dear CCSD employees, parents, and students,

Cache County School District is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for all students, faculty, and staff. As the Superintendent, school safety consistently weighs heavily on my mind. Since safety is a top priority, we continually look for and implement ways to keep our schools safe. When a student feels safe in his or her school environment, parents, educators, and students can focus on education and learning.

In accordance with the Utah State Board of Education's "Eight Conditions for a Safe School," our District strives to establish a positive and supportive school culture, attend to school-based mental health, secure building, grounds and transportation, provide screening supports, mitigate student safe school violations, provide digital safety measures, develop community prevention and response partnerships, and establish crisis and emergency response protocols. For more information on these efforts, please visit the School Safety Measures page of our website.

We are thankful for our team of administrators, teachers, counselors, and other school personnel who care for the needs of all students. Their efforts are augmented by student assistance teams that address the needs of those who require extra support. Student-led organizations provide opportunities for peers to lift and look out for one another. The goal is to ensure that each student in our district is known and valued as an individual.

We are grateful for the friendship, unity, and inclusion we see daily in our schools as students interact with one another. We appreciate students and parents who are alert and proactive in reporting any concerns that would impact student safety. If students do not feel comfortable sharing information face-to-face, programs such as SafeUT and Anonymous Tips allow them to report concerns anonymously.  There are links to both programs on our district and school websites.

Over the past several years, our district has implemented an Emergency Communication System in every school which improves the ability of school personnel and law enforcement to communicate in an emergency. When used in conjunction with other established school safety procedures and protocols, this system will greatly augment our ability to keep students and school personnel safe. Each school holds regular drills to ensure that staff and students know how to respond to various emergency situations. We recently retrofitted all classroom doors so that they can be locked from the inside by teachers.  

Additionally, our district, in cooperation with the Cache County Sheriff’s office, employs school resource officers who work at each high school and are available to assist in an emergency.  Local first responders receive training specific to dealing with issues in school settings. Officers also visit our elementary and middle schools frequently to provide age-appropriate training and to establish positive relationships with students.  

Beyond measures we have already taken, we are committed to working with schools, parent-teacher organizations, school community councils, local law enforcement, and community members to evaluate additional steps we can take to improve security within our schools and to further support students and staff. We hope to continually provide a safe and encouraging environment for all.

Sincerely,

Superintendent Steven C. Norton