February 14, 2024
Dear Parents,
As a follow up from last Friday’s series of Safety Update Messages, I would like to thank you for the trust you place in our staff as we take care of your children. As we shared last Friday afternoon, the Amarillo police department issued a press release that the threat circulating last Thursday night and Friday was ultimately determined by law enforcement not to be credible to the Amarillo area. As you know, we take all potential threats seriously and will always act out of an abundance of caution so that our students and staff are protected at all times.
Our staff and students did an amazing job on Friday responding to the heightened level of awareness within and around our school while continuing with a regular day of instruction. Our Guardians did a great job being prepared and watchful while we followed our safety and security guidelines. We are appreciative of the Oldham County Sheriff’s office for responding to our request of having a Deputy outside of our campuses last Friday morning.
One follow-up from Friday was that some of our students were not accustomed to seeing a Sheriff’s vehicle in front of the school on Friday morning. In speaking with Sheriff Warden, while Sheriff vehicles patrol around the community and school on a regular basis, he has agreed to schedule a deputy’s vehicle to be in front of our school several times a month.
Our safety measures of locking exterior doors, providing a driver’s license in the Raptor system for a visitor’s badge, and our Guardian Program are all important components that work together to keep our students and staff safe. We conduct weekly safety checks of the exterior doors to ensure they are securely locked and that procedures are followed. In fact, the Texas Education Agency conducts exterior door audits for all campuses and our district met all standards on this year’s exterior door audit. The district’s parent notification system and app notifications are also important tools to help us communicate so everyone is aware of the same information.
When many of us were in school, the only drills we had were fire and tornado drills, and door checks were certainly not something that anyone followed. In today’s world, that is just not the case anymore. We schedule safety drills throughout the school year so that our students and staff are able to know how to respond during an emergency situation. These drills are also important components of our district’s safety plan. Our students and staff do an excellent job of learning what to do during these drills.
Again, I wanted to take the opportunity to provide a follow up from last Friday’s events, and thank all of our stakeholders – students, staff, law enforcement, and parents – for working together with us so that everyday students can have exceptional learning opportunities in Vega ISD.
Thank you,
Jerry Adams
Superintendent
Vega ISD