5120 - Relationship with Law Enforcement
The Avery County Board of Education recognizes the importance of law enforcement authorities in providing safe schools. The board desires an effective working relationship with law enforcement. To this end, the superintendent and principals are expected tocommunicate the needs of the schools and work with law enforcement officials in developing joint programs and in establishing protocols for handling particular situations. The superintendent shall establish procedures for school contacts with law enforcement agencies.
The superintendent will ensure that local law enforcement and emergency management agencies have schematic diagrams, including digital schematic diagrams, of all school facilities and provide them updates of the schematic diagrams when the school system makes substantial facility modifications, such as the addition of new facilities or modifications to doors or windows. The superintendent shall also provide local law enforcement agencies with (1) either keys to the main entrance of all school buildings or emergency access to key storage devices for all school buildings and (2) updated access to school buildings when changes are made to the locks of the main entrances or to the key storage devices.
School resource officers will be assigned duties as specified in a written understanding between the law enforcement agency and the school system.
Law enforcement officials, including school resource officers, should not initiate administrative investigations, including investigations to determine whether student behavior policies have been violated, but may be used to assist school officials in such investigations for safety or other reasons as determined necessary by the principal or designee. Law enforcement officials may be contacted to report possible criminal conduct on school premises or at school-sponsored activities. (See policy 4335, Criminal Behavior, for more information regarding mandatory reporting of certain criminal behaviors.) However, school officials will independently investigate violations of school rules or board policies even if such violations may also involve criminal behavior.
School administrators and employees are expected to cooperate in criminal investigations while minimizing disruptions to the educational environment. However, law enforcement should not be allowed to speak with students during any criminal investigation until parents have been notified.
Visits by probation officers to students during the school day must be in accordance with policy 5020, Visitors to the Schools.
Legal Reference: G.S. 115C-36, -47; S.L. 2013-360
Cross Reference: School Safety (policy 1510/42007270); Criminal Behavior (policy 4335), Student Searches (policy 4342); Visitors to the Schools (policy 5020)
Adopted: 2000-12-04 Updated: 1999-09-24; 2013-01-03; 2016-04-12