Safety and Security Overview

Safety and security are key foundational pieces in providing a stable learning environment for our students and staff.  The Waynesville R-VI School District takes extensive, proactive measures to ensure safety within our facilities at all times. Below you will find additional information about the safety and security measures that are in place to protect our students and staff. 

Building Access

In an effort to keep our students and staff safe throughout the day, the district has adopted routine procedures that all parents, guardians and visitors will need to follow in order to gain building access.  The doors to our schools are locked once the school day begins, and visitors are required to come to the front door to be “buzzed in.”  All visitors are also required to sign in and follow office procedures for obtaining a visitor’s badge prior to receiving permission to move to their destination within the building.  The visitor’s badge must be displayed at all times throughout the visit. Upon departure, visitors must sign out in the main office and return their visitor’s badge to office personnel.  Parents and guardians wishing to check their student out must also present valid identification to office personnel prior to the student’s dismissal. 

Emergency Drills

For the safety of our students and staff, and in accordance with district policy, drills related to bus, earthquake, evacuation, fire, intruder, and tornado emergencies are conducted regularly, at each building, throughout the school year. 

Emergency Dismissal Procedures

If an emergency requires our schools to close early, this information will be communicated to parents and guardians through the district’s electronic voice messaging system, the district website, Facebook and Twitter. In addition, this information will be provided to local media outlets as well.

Delayed Dismissal Procedures

In order to keep students safe, district schools will not release students from school during a tornado warning or if the school is in lockdown.  Buses will not run until the warning or lockdown is lifted. This information will be communicated to parents and guardians through the district’s electronic voice messaging system, the district website, Facebook and Twitter.

Drill Scripts

In an effort to promote open discussion and further engage students in the safety drill process, each classroom teacher facilitates grade-level specific drill scripts that enhance student understanding of the safety and security measures the district has in place, and allows students an avenue to ask specific questions related to these policies and procedures.  District-wide, we have found this practice to be very beneficial and encourage parents to discuss safety measures with students outside of school in an effort to continue school safety conversations at home.    

District Wide Safety Assessments

As a proactive measure, the school district has assembled a safety team that conducts multiple announced and unannounced safety assessments at each building throughout the year.  The visits allow the safety team to assess each building’s perimeter security, facilities security and proficiency in meeting the expectations of safety drills.  Safety assessments are conducted regularly, and timely feedback is presented to building leaders following each assessment.

District Tip Line

The Waynesville R-VI School District supports a district-wide Tip Line to encourage concerned citizens to report school related concerns to district officials.  The Tip Line can be accessed from multiple webpages within the district website and allows individuals to report concerns related to bullying, drugs, fighting, personal crisis, safety risk, threats, vandalism and weapons. There is also an opportunity to provide positive comments by selecting the kudos option from the dropdown menu. 

Additional Safety Measures

In addition to the above-mentioned proactive safety and security measures taken within the Waynesville R-VI School District, the district also implements the following safety and security measures: Active Shooter Incident Response Training (ASIRT), Armed School Resource Officers, Interagency Meetings, Emergency Management Plans (written and electronic), Camera Surveillance (bus and building), Intercom Communication, School Bus GPS Tracking System, Two-way Communication, Daily Perimeter Checks, Secondary Locking Devices, Classroom Emergency Kits