Grape CreekElementary

Dear Parents/Guardians, and Community,
I write this letter in an effort to provide you with further information about the safety measures followed and practiced daily at all campuses and within our district. Additionally, It is my sincere hope to help ease any concerns or fears you may have concerning a false social media rumor about an eminent threat made against a campus. I am deeply saddened and sorrowful that this inaccurate information led any of our parent/guardians, and community to believe (even for one second) that our children (babies as I call them) could be in danger, especially while we are all devastated and mourning the loss of the precious lives lost and changed forever in Uvalde, Texas. My hope is that the following information will provide you with additional feedback.
This afternoon, upon receiving information about a social media rumor that caused question about the safety of the campuses and students, my campus administrators and I met immediately. We chose to send an electronic message via REMIND about this to our parent/guardians.. Our intention was to utilize the fastest measure to keep you all informed and to hopefully ease your concerns as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, REMIND limits the number of characters allowed in a message so we were limited in what could be sent out. This letter is intended to provide you the additional information that could not be sent via REMIND.
Please know that are constantly working toward ensuring the safety and welfare of our students. The district utilizes and practices various safety precautions on a daily basis. Every member of the GCISD staff, the Board of Trustees, and I absolutely take ANY type of of threat seriously. However, sometimes due to protecting the privacy rights of others we legally can't share details. Unfortunately, this sometimes sparks speculation and rumors as it has today.
I have included some of our safety measures below. My hope is that this additional information may help to ease your fears and concerns.
The district utilizes a check-in system where no one can access campuses unless they are buzzed in. Our local law enforcement officers have immediate access to our facilities and video surveillance system, we utilize a guardian program made up of key staff that are continually trained and armed, along with student apps for reporting threats and other issues. All staff are trained utilizing active shooter training through a program named ALICE, and we have partnerships with the Tom Green County Sheriffs Dept, DPS, SA Fire Dept, Grape Creek Volunteer Fire Dept, the City of San Angelo and more. Even the slightest information given to us that includes any type of threat or even behavior issue is fully taken care of. We will always take threats and reports seriously and will punish to the fullest extent allowed by school policy and law. Please be assured that the safety of our students is our biggest priority!!

Sincerely,

Angie

Dr. Angie Smetana
Superintendent
Grape Creek ISD