Members of the Pine Bush School Board approved two safety-related items covering the 2022-23 school year at Tuesday’s board meeting in the high school library.

The vote on the district’s health and safety plan was preceded by a public hearing but no one spoke for or against it.

The plan, reviewed by the district’s 22-member health and safety committee and updated for the year beginning in September, was developed in accordance with regulations issued by the New York State education commissioner. It is meant to put in place a coordinated, expeditious response to a variety of emergencies and violent incidents that might occur in the sprawling district and its schools. It sets up emergency response teams in all seven district schools, mandates each school to conduct four lockdown drills annually and requires the district to conduct one drill involving local law enforcement and other emergency response agencies. It also directs bus companies to conduct safety drills three times a year.

The second safety-related resolution authorizes the superintendent to execute agreements with the towns of Crawford and Wallkill to continue the school resource officer program. The SRO programs were established after the February 14, 2018, massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The Town of Wallkill Police Department will provide an officer and a fully marked police car for each of the three schools in the town, all in the hamlet of Circleville. The Crawford Police Department will do the same for the four schools located in the Hamlet of Pine Bush.

Another safety-related measure is underway in the district as part of a $44.8 million building refurbishment project approved in 2019. When complete, each school’s main entrance will have a secure vestibule designed to control access and prevent forced entries.