From the Director: An Update on Safety and Security

By Amani Reed, Director

Over the past few weeks, we have had many conversations focused on processing the events of the last month, caring for our children and students, and our safety and security procedures. Although at times difficult and emotional, they have been necessary; and, I appreciate the many families, students, and faculty who have shared their concerns about our school. My administrative colleagues and I remain committed to researching best practices, understanding and meeting state regulations as they evolve, and taking steps to exceed national standards for school security. I’ve answered hundreds of thoughtful questions, culminating with our two Forums on Safety and Security early this month, and I want to share with the entire USN community some of their answers and changes we announced during the forums. 

Faculty and staff will have a special inservice Friday, May 26 for a lockdown drill with law enforcement. Any student in After School (which offers care on nonschool weekdays) on this day will be a part of the drill, as has been the practice for USN for many years and is required by the Tennessee Department of Education. Important to me is that the adults in the building feel confident with their training before leading their students through the processes of sheltering in place, barricading classrooms, and quickly moving to our reunification site. Beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year, USN will hold lockdown drills during the regular school day, and we will notify families of the dates in advance. 

The first iteration of our security assessment by Vanderbilt University Public Safety found that our school meets national standards; however, my goal is to ensure we are doing everything we can to maximize our resources and reach best practices with our facilities, procedures, and training. We will spend the money necessary to make the determined upgrades and suggested modifications. We have a sense of urgency, yet need to get it right. Our security audit is still in progress; and while a playbook of its findings will not be published or widely disseminated, I will keep our community informed of changes.

Within the coming weeks, campus enhancements include:

Vanderbilt University police officers continue to have a presence on our Edgehill Campus during school hours, occasionally with trained canines. VUPS has a direct feed to monitor USN security cameras, and their officers have been walking our campus to become more familiar with the labyrinth of our buildings and the people within them.

As we make these pivots to better protect our students and employees, thank you for always using the 19th Avenue main entrance, allowing extra time to check in with the receptionist using our visitor management system, and wearing the given badge while on campus. As we close doors and require even the most frequent parent volunteers and USN families for several generations to make these adjustments, I realize our beloved school may begin to feel like a different place. As Operations Director Erik Mash put it during our forums, “Convenience and security are inversely proportional,” and these changes are part of our highest effort to protect our students.

I remain committed to making USN a better place. Expect to continue to receive regular updates from me on facility improvements, policy changes, and training for faculty and students as we move forward to create a safer USN community.