The SHELL emergency response system is used by schools throughout New York State in order to provide administrators, teachers, students, parents, law enforcement officials and community residents with a common language to understand what is happening and how to respond.

S – Shelter in Place: No imminent concern. Students and staff are required to remain indoors because it is safer inside the building or a room than outside. Typically used during severe weather.

H – Hold in Place: No imminent concern. Movement of students and staff is temporarily limited during an internal incident, such as a medical emergency or a maintenance issue, to keep them from the affected area.

E – Evacuation: Students and staff are required to leave the building because it is safer outside than inside, such as during a fire or hazardous material spill.

L – Lockout: The school building is secured due to an imminent concern outside the school building, such as a wild animal in the school vicinity. During a lockout, inside the school has been deemed the safest place for students and staff and no one will be permitted to enter or exit the building until this designation is lifted. Parents and community members are reminded not to come to school or wait outdoors at school for their own safety. Typically, regular indoor activities may continue, but outdoor activities do not occur. Communication updates will be made as the situation allows.

L – Lockdown: Most serious status, imminent danger. Students and staff take cover, remain silent and out of view. This occurs when an incident poses an immediate threat of violence in or around the school. School personnel will alert law enforcement but will likely not be able to issue any other communication to the community until the threat has passed in order to maintain everyone’s safety. 

Gates Chili Visitor Management System

The safety of students and staff is one of the top priorities of the Gates Chili Central School District. As part of a series of improvements to school safety and security the District is pleased to announce a new visitor management system will be rolled out in all of the school buildings beginning September 2015. This system computerizes a portion of the District’s check-in procedures, which not only enhances our ability to track who is in the building during the day, but also enables us to better screen our visitors. In order to protect our students, staff, and guests, all visitors will be required to show a valid, government issued photo ID upon entering any school building on campus during school hours. Prior to granting entry, the system will check to be sure that the visitor is allowed in the building and there is nothing indicating that they cannot enter, including clearance by the national sex offender registry.

What changes will you see when visiting our schools?

When visitors arrive at the check-in desk during school hours, the receptionist will still confirm the reason for the visit and that they are in the school legitimately as done in the past. On the first visit the receptionist will request the guest’s government issued ID, such as a driver’s license, and scan it into the visitor management system. ID is required to be presented on subsequent visits, but will not need to be scanned, as the visitor can be pulled up from the previous visitors log in the system. Each time a guest visits our schools, the system will check to ensure they are allowed in the building and print a visitor badge with their name, photo, date and time, and destination. Much like the system currently in place, they will then be instructed to wear their visitor pass while they are in the building so that our staff knows that they have been properly checked in. At the end of their visit, the guest will be expected to return to the check-in desk and hand in their pass, so that the receptionist can quickly check them out of the building.

We believe that you will find the enhanced check-in process to be much faster than the manual check-in process previously used. And most importantly, it enables us to reach that delicate balance between enhancing security and maintaining a warm, welcoming environment throughout the district. Please know that we continue to welcome the community into our schools and ask for your patience as we enhance our check-in procedures for the safety and security of our students.

24 hour District Security - 340-5526