The purpose of this school safety reporting policy is to generally set forth the principles by which the Tucson Youth development (TYD) Local Education Agency (LEA) and ACE and Youth Works Charter High Schools respond to threats against the schools and their students, employees, and volunteers. Given the sensitivity of the subject matter addressed by this policy, this is intentionally a non-exhaustive consideration of the schools’ safety protocols; therefore, this policy supplements but does not replace any other safety protocols or applicable state or Federal laws governing the schools’ obligation to maintain a safe learning environment.
The LEA Executive Director or their designee will report to local law enforcement any suspected crime against a person or property that: 1.) is a serious offense or involves a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or serious physical injury, or, 2.) any conduct that poses a threat of death or serious physical injury to a school employee, student, or other person on school property. All bolded terms in this paragraph are defined in A.R.S. § 15-153 and HB2119.
In accordance with applicable state and Federal law, including FERPA, the LEA Executive Director or their designee, will notify the parent or guardian of each student who is involved in suspected criminal conduct. School personnel are expected to report and document any suspected criminal conduct by immediately notifying a member of the school’s administration of the incident and promptly preparing a written report of the incident and providing the report to a member of the school administration. The schools may, at the discretion of their administrators, discipline any school employee who the school administration believes failed to properly report and document suspected criminal conduct. The involved school will maintain a record of such disciplinary action. In accordance with applicable law, the involved school will, upon reasonable request, make the relevant disciplinary record available to a public school considering hiring the involved employee.
In accordance with applicable state law, if school administration determines a student has been harassed, threatened, or intimidated on school grounds or in a manner that substantially disrupts the school’s learning environments, the LEA Executive Director or their designee will promptly notify the parent or guardian of the impacted student. Threatening or intimidating behavior and harassment are defined as set forth in A.R.S. § 15-186.01.