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WILTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
395 Danbury Road
Wilton, Connecticut 06897
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Kevin Smith, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
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Charles Smith, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent
Curriculum and Instruction
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Andrea Leonardi
Assistant Superintendent
Special Services
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Maria Coleman
Director, Human Resources and General Administration
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Dawn Norton
Chief Financial Officer
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March 8, 2024
Dear Parents, Guardians, Caregivers, and Staff,
I write to provide our school community with an update following the unauthorized visitor at Wilton High School on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. At 10:14 that morning, an individual without permission to do so allowed a school-aged person to enter our building through a locked door. Approximately four minutes later, a staff member was notified, and this staff member alerted the administration to the issue. School administrators mobilized, assessed the known facts, informed school resource officers, and began searching for this unauthorized person and the individual who allowed the person to enter. The Wilton Police Department supported the search by conducting patrols in the community. In the minutes that followed, administrators, campus supervisors, and school resource officers canvassed the building to locate these individuals. The facts known to the administrators and school resource officers at that time did not suggest a threat to the school community. At 10:37 a.m., the Wilton Police Department confirmed that the unauthorized individual had been located off-site and that the police department had made contact with the individual’s parents.
As you know, we recognize and embrace the preservation of safety as our first responsibility. This event, like any event that involves our safety protocols, provides us with the opportunity to reflect on and evaluate our practices. Since last Tuesday, we have engaged in numerous debriefing sessions with Wilton Police Department leadership, representatives from the Connecticut Center for School Safety, our administrative staff, and emergency operations committee members, among others. Our analysis of the incident and the timeline of events led us to conclude that, while a number of security protocols were followed, the initiation of the Standard Response Protocol’s “hold” was the appropriate course of action during this event. While the response team’s initial assessment of this incident did not indicate an immediate threat to school safety, we recognize any unauthorized visitor as a potential threat to school safety. As such, we will institute protocols that preserve safety at all times.
As a result of our reflections and findings, we have taken these steps to improve upon our practice:
Directed a review of safety protocols at all schools
Provided additional training to staff responsible for managing the front booth at WHS
Provided additional training to WHS campus supervisors
Retrained appropriate staff on the use of portable radios
Instituted an automatic “hold” protocol for atypical activities in the future (i.e. unauthorized visitors, medical emergencies, etc.).
In the coming days and weeks, we will take these steps:
Install passive surveillance of locked doors with keyless entry
Audit locations of all alarmed doors and recommend, if necessary, additional alarms
Engage students, particularly those at the secondary level, in conversations about how they can help keep our buildings secure (i.e. ensuring that exterior doors close behind them, not passing the doors to others who are not authorized to enter the building, entering and exiting through approved doors, not opening exterior doors for others, and alerting school staff to unusual activity or visitors)
Engage the emergency operations committees in regular and varied tabletop exercises that would activate emergency protocols in unusual and unexpected situations
Improve external communication to families to provide information during active events in a more timely manner
The following list of security measures reflects some of the safeguards we have in place currently as part of our continuous focus on school safety:
Classroom and exterior doors are locked.
Protective film coats exterior first-floor glass on all buildings.
Surveillance camera coverage has been expanded to more than 500 cameras district-wide.
Outdoor lighting has been improved.
Alarms have been installed on a number of exterior doors.
Emergency notification buttons have been installed in strategic locations district-wide.
Exterior numbers have been assigned to first floor spaces, allowing emergency responders to locate the spaces more accurately and efficiently if needed.
Two-way radios that provide immediate contact with first responders are in place.
We adopt and annually revise our all-hazards emergency response plan, which includes the Standard Response Protocol found below.
We engage in regular drills that include elements of the Standard Response Protocol.
Here’s how you can help:
Continue to support our safety procedures by signing in to our school buildings and entering and exiting through the main entrance at each location.
Ensure the door closes behind you each time you enter and exit; do not pass the door to others.
Immediately report suspicious or concerning activity in the school or in the parking lot.
Engage your children in conversations about how they can preserve school safety by following school protocols.
Refrain from posting inaccurate or incomplete information online; know that if there is an event on campus, the school district will communicate as soon as it can reasonably do so.
Our school district enjoys a very strong partnership with our police department, fire department, volunteer ambulance corps, parents, and students. We recognize that school safety is a shared responsibility, and the contributions of each of these groups help to make our schools safer. While we have many safeguards in place, we are never complacent. We continue to carefully examine our practices, seek out new opportunities to improve, and respond to your feedback and recommendations. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Smith, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
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