September 13, 2022
Dear Students, Parents/Guardians, and Staff Members,
The safety of our students is of the highest priority. The security needs of today's schools are more intense than in the past. North Adams Public Schools must be vigilant about the security of our schools, technology, and students’ physical safety while they are in our care. Massachusetts Transportation Policy indicates that the responsibility of student safety begins at the school bus stop, includes transportation to school, the duration of the school day, and the transportation of students back home to the care of their parents and guardians. Because of our responsibility to ensure student safety, we are altering midday dismissal procedures to guarantee that students are safe, and to assist parents in knowing who is permitted access to their children.
Effectively immediately, the following measures will be in place for all student dismissals (occurring prior to the end of the school day):
All parents, guardians and emergency contacts will be asked to present personal identification (ie. driver’s license, workplace ID, or other photo ID). Office staff will make a copy of the photo ID and attach it to the dismissal form noting the time, date, and reason for the dismissal.
Students will only be dismissed to those individuals identified in our PowerSchool database as the student’s parent, guardian, or emergency contact. Students will not be dismissed to any other adult. If you need to make changes to or verify your child’s PowerSchool information, please contact the main office at your child’s school.
If a parent calls the school to request a student dismissal, the office staff will write down the name of the caller, and number the call came from, and inform the parent to park and come into the school to present photo identification when they collect their child.
At the high school level, for students who drive to and from school: if a parent calls the school for a midday dismissal, the office staff will record the name and the phone number the dismissal originated from, and they will call the parent/guardian at the number listed in our PowerSchool database to verify the dismissal request.
There are a limited number of school days and we encourage our students and parents/guardians to prioritize regular school attendance and to avoid midday dismissal if possible, but there are occasions when dismissals are necessary for medical appointments, events requiring travel, and other family emergencies. When those limited occasions occur, please follow these procedures to partner with the schools in keeping all of our students safe.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Barbara Malkas
Superintendent of Schools