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Safety & Security

Use the Vector Alert  system for sharing tips by phone, text, email or online message.  Tips may be made anonymously.  If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 911.

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Buster Cushing
Chief of Police

There is nothing more important than students having access to the highest quality education in the safest schools possible.  The safety of students, staff, and visitors is our top priority and we have coupled that with investments in the security of our school campuses.  The approach is grounded in three pillars—Preparation, Prevention, and Response—and each pillar has both no-cost commitments and long-standing investments.  For an overview of these pillars and how plans have been implemented in our schools, please watch this brief video featuring Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis and Police Chief Buster Cushing.  

No-cost commitments include adjustments to routines and processes that are known to improve the school environment and promote safe and secure practices.  Our long-standing investments total over $43.7 million over the past 10 years with $12.9 million in just the past 2 years.  This school year’s (FY25) budget includes funding for 29 School Police Officers and associated equipment and vehicles, totaling over  $7 million in security layers.  This funding includes both local dollars ($5.4 million) and the Governor's Safety Grant of $1.6 million.

Below is a summary of our district’s approach to safety & security.  

The Three Pillars of CCSD Safety & Security

 

PREPARATION

PREVENTION

RESPONSE

NO-COST
COMMITMENT
    

 PLANS 

  • School safety plans
  • Athletic events safety plan

 TRAINING

  • Active Shooter training
  • CPR training
  • AED training
  • Stop the Bleed training
  • Administrative training (human error, behavior threat assessment)
  • Ambulance at football games (Northside Hospital partnership)

 PRACTICING

  • Emergency drills (severe weather, lockdowns)

 

 

 DAILY ROUTINES

  • Daily safety huddles
  • Safety walks by District staff
  • Locked exterior doors
  • Locked interior doors
  • No bags at larger games/events

 MONITORING & 
 PREVENTION

  • Partnerships with all local law enforcement
  • Regular monitoring of social media (GBI)
  • K-9 safety  searches
  • Background checks for employees & volunteers
  • Threat assessment protocol 

 

 

 

  • Crisis Response Team 
  • Reunification Plan
  • Community-related incident communication

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LONG-STANDING INVESTMENT

 PLANS

  • WiFi connected capabilities for police radios for communications             with 911

 TRAINING

  • AEDs
  • Stop the Bleed kits
  • Narcan

 

  SECURITY
  INVESTMENTS

  • School Resource Officers
  • Access control (badge readers, entrance camera and buzzer system
  • Security window film
  • Foyers/security vestibules
  • Visitor management
  • Vector alert
  • Crisis alert badges
  • Intercoms

 

  • Camera Systems
  • Bus Cameras
  • Narcan
  • Alarms/Fire Alarms
  • Emergency radios

 

 

 

EMERGENCY  DRILLS AND PREPARATION

These are the types of safety drills your child may experience at school. We practice these drill in the unlikely event that an active situation requires our readiness to respond. 

  • CODE RED:  A situation is occurring on school grounds or inside a school or School District facility that potentially endangers the health, welfare and safety or students, staff and others.  All interior doors are locked, students remain in classrooms, and exterior doors are locked.  No student check-outs can occur under a Code Red situation; and, parents are asked NOT to call the school or drive to the school campus during a Code Red event, as the additional vehicle traffic will impede public safety response.  Schools practice Code Red drills annually.
  • CODE ORANGE: A situation presents a threat of danger to students, staff or others, but has not yet escalated to a physical threat.  All interior doors are locked, students remain in classrooms, and exterior doors are locked.  All outside activities will be discontinued, and students and staff will return to the building.  Normal operations continue inside the school.
  • CODE YELLOW:  A situation presents no immediate danger to students, staff or others, but there is a situation in the immediate vicinity of a school, as advised by law enforcement or the Office of School Operations.  All outside activities will be discontinued, and students and staff will return to the building.  Exterior doors are locked.  Normal operations continue inside the school; student check-out is allowed.

CCSD Police Department logo

Cherokee County School Police Department
201 Mountain Brook Ct., Canton, GA 30115
P.O. Box 769, Canton, GA 30169
770.704.4354

 

REPORT TIPS ABOUT SCHOOL SAFETY

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The Cherokee County School District offers the Vector Alert (formerly SafeSchools Alert) system for reporting safety concerns. The Vector Alert system allows students, parents, school staff and everyone in the community to anonymously report safety concerns by text, email, online message or phone call. 

Through Vector Alert, you can submit safety concerns to CCSD five different ways:

1. By Phone:470.315.9171

2. By Text: 470.315.9171

3. By Email: 1695@alert1.us

4. By Online message: https://cherokee-ga.safeschoolsalert.com/

5. By Mobile App – Download the Vector Alert app for free from the iPhone App Store and Google Play for Android phones.  The app icon is a life preserver.  The first time you open the app after downloading, you’ll need to enter 1695 for the ID and confirm your District is the Cherokee County School District.

If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 911.  You can use Vector Alert to report information about threats to school safety, bullying, harassment, drugs, vandalism or any other safety issue.

CCSD School Police and School Operations administrators are notified of every tip, so they can investigate and take appropriate action.  This system is closely monitored, making it much more effective than sending a message to CCSD social media accounts or a CCSD email address.