With so many Safe2Say tips continuing to
pour in and interrupt our student’s education, it makes sense that we are all frustrated.
However, it’s also crucial that our community understands that Safe2Say
is an anonymous reporting tip
line that the state of Pennsylvania mandates
all schools to participate in and follow.
There is a process that has
been clearly laid out by Safe2Say, PSBA, and our
school. Our district and
administrator are following the proper protocol to the best of their ability
and we need to understand that this process will take time. If
these are false allegations, the next step according to Safe2Say would
be to get a court order for the records.
As tension and frustrations grow regarding how the Coatesville Area School District is handling these situations, we wanted to take some time to explain and correct some misunderstandings about how Safe2Say works.
What is Safe2Say?
- The Safe2Say Something is a system for anonymously reporting unsafe, potentially harmful, dangerous, violent or criminal activities in any school in Pennsylvania that was established within the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. This program is state mandated by Act 44 of 2018 and requires all K-12 schools, school districts, charter schools, private schools, cyber charter schools, private schools, nonpublic schools, intermediate units, and area vocational-technical schools operating in Pennsylvania to participate. Safe2Say has a FAQ section that we could encourage you to read over.
How do Safe2Say reports come to the school?
- First: “Tips are triaged by Analysts in the Office of the
Attorney General Crisis Center. They triage each tip to ensure there is enough
information to act upon the tip, determine if the tip is life safety or
non-life safety as well as conduct on-going 2-way dialog with the tipster where
needed.”
- Next: “Life safety tips are sent to 911 Dispatch and your school/district. It is important that both understand who is going to take what role when these tips are received. Additionally, how you will coordinate with your local police. The good news is its likely you have protocols in place already that will allow you to reference and build from together. If not, a discussion guide will be provided for these meetings.”
When a tip comes in can Safe2Say dispatchers follow up with the tipster?
- “Yes – Schools / Districts have the ability to have 2-way anonymous dialog with a tipster at any time. This information, depending on the tipster’s availability to answer, can be instant. This information is also shared instantly across the platform so your teammates can see the information the same time as you – keeping all well-informed.”
Can the school request the Safe2Say tipster’s name and information?
- “We are able to trace false submissions ONLY if a school gets a court order to uncover anonymity of a tipster. As reference, we anticipate less than ½ of 1% of tips are false submissions based on similar programs nationally.”
Can CASD “turn off” Safe2Say?
- CASD cannot simply “turn off” Safe-to-Say when they feel like it. It is a state-mandated program.
Who can parents and community members contact to push for
help in getting a court order TODAY to identify the individual who is making
these Safe2Say reports?
- Attorney General’s office
- CASD is already working in conjunction with them. Thank you to community members who were proactive in communicating the urgency of the situation.
By law, what information are residents, parents and taxpayers allowed to know about the threat and what the district leadership is doing to rectify it?
- If these reports happen to be made by a student, the district will NOT be allowed (FERPA) to share with the community the identity of this person or what their consequence is unless they are charged by the DA.
What is the district doing to learn from yesterday’s lockdown when kids didn't eat lunch can’t go to
the bathroom until the search is done?
- The District has crisis/ safety procedures that are reviewed frequently to make changes and adjustments to plan for situations that were not previously included.
Safe2Say Annual Report:
Other Districts that have gotten court orders:
Other schools in PA that have false alarms:
East Stroudsburg Area School District
Blue Mountain Area School District
Conestoga Valley School District
Charleroi Area School District
