Dear Liberty families,

In the aftermath of yet another school shooting, this time at an elementary school in Nashville, we want to reassure you that we take the safety and security of our school communities seriously and remind you of some of the current measures that we have in place.

Schools should and must be places where everyone feels secure. Each one of LESD’s seven schools has an emergency preparedness plan - a plan that is reviewed annually. It covers what should be done, procedures to follow and the circumstances in which it should be activated. These plans are flexible to meet the conditions of a variety of situations.

We are fortunate to have strong relationships with Buckeye PD, Goodyear PD, and MCSO. LESD follows the I Love U Guys crisis response recommendations as directed by the City of Goodyear Police Department, City of Buckeye Police Department and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. You can read more about the specific protocols here.

As a district, we are committed to doing everything we can to be diligent and  prepared. LESD has several security measures in place, including:

• Locked entry doors 

• School Resource Officers assigned to district schools

• Crisis alert software that notifies school employees immediately of a crisis on their electronic devices

• Schools practice lockdown and fire drills in collaboration with local fire and police departments

• Student ID badges are issued to all students and required to be worn at all times 

• School visitor management software for check-in and check-out of all not-school personnel and volunteers/visitors

We ask that you continue to have conversations with your student(s), as appropriate, on the topic of responsible social media behaviors. Many of these tragic situations first arise on social media, via posts and direct messages. The Arizona Attorney General’s office has a clearinghouse for internet safety resources and information for families located here. We encourage our families to review and make use of these resources to encourage your children to “think before you post.”

At this time, it is also important to remember how seriously PD takes all threats (including pranks) on schools. Our local police departments stand with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies with a zero tolerance on all threats made against schools or other public places.

Parents, please talk with your child about the consequences of threats against their school.

Students and families are encouraged to “see something, say something” when they encounter concerning information or threats made online. We have been fortunate in the past that our students and families have reported threats they see on social media, which gives our District and Site safety teams the opportunity to investigate in coordination with the appropriate PD contacts. The District also has Anonymous Alerts available for each of our school sites.

We are proud to be part of a strong community that works together to support our students. As educators, there is no responsibility more important than caring for students. We want our families to feel confident that when they drop their children off at school that our teachers will encourage, support, teach and nurture their child every day. 

Please reach out to us if you have any questions and concerns and know that we are here to support you, provide a safe space for your students, and to grow as a community. Thank you for your collective ongoing commitment to keeping our school communities safe.

Thank you.