Safety & Security

Safety and security preparedness is always a focus at MCS, which is why we contract with Legacy Life Security Soultions to provide School Safety Officers (SSOs) to cover all MCS facilities. Legacy Life is owned and operated by longtime Muncie resident and former Muncie Police Department detective Robert Scaife and his wife, Wilisha.

Each SSO undergoes regular trainings in the areas of CORE strength, youth mental health first aid, cultural competency, active shooter, stop the bleed (first aid and CPR), firearms training and qualifications, and other specialties. They bring a "kid-friendly" attitude to each of our buildings and are true resources for our students, not just rules enforcers.

Together with Legacy Life Security, we are constantly reviewing processes for maximum effectiveness. This proactive process helps us ensure that our students can maximize their learning potential within a safe and secure environment.

For more detailed information about different areas of MCS safety and security protocols, please click on the individual panels below:

Raptor Check-in System

Each visitor to any MCS building must go through the Raptor check-in system. This system reads the visitor's driver's license or other government-issued photo ID and compares the information to a sex offender database. if a match is found, the system alerts campus administrators who will take appropriate action. If no match is found, the system prints out a visitor badge that includes a photo of the visitor.

How does it work?
Drivers license information is compared to a database that consists of registered sex offenders from 49 states. If a match is found, it alerts school personnel to the situation so they can take appropriate measures to keep the campus safe while addressing the needs of the visitor.

What information is taken from driver's licenses?
Raptor is only scanning the visitor's name, date of birth and photo for comparison with a national database of registered sex offenders. Additional visitor data is not gathered and no data is shared with any outside organization.

Does every visitor get scanned?
Yes. The Raptor system is designed to track visitors. In case of an emergency, visitors can be viewed in a queue if they are still on campus. If necessary in an emergency, this will help identify who is inside the building.

Why does MCS use Raptor?
Schools need to know who is on campus and why they are there. We also need to be able to confirm that an individual has the legal authority to have access to the student they are trying to contact.

What if the person refuses to show identification?
A campus administrator can meet with the individual and explain the process to them.

Do registered sexual offenders have a right to enter schools?
If a sexual offender has a legitimate reason to be on campus (e.g., visiting a legal dependent), and a court order does not prevent them from visiting the child and/or the school, then yes. However, such individuals will only be given limited access to the building and the student they are there to see. MCS cannot deny legal access to an individual's own child. Schools can, however, deny access to other students.

Threat Response

Because learning cannot take place unless students and staff are safe and secure inside our school buildings, threats of any kind are not tolerated. This includes anonymous threats that are meant to be "a joke." Each threat, no matter how credible, is taken seriously and investigated immediately by school officials.

If the threat is determined to not be credible, school officials will deal directly with affected students and parents.
If the validity of the threat is undetermined or believed to be serious, officials will immediately contact our partners at the Muncie Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies to begin a deeper investigation.

Many times, anonymous threats (especially ones made on social media) are determined to be hoaxes, but that does not mean they don't have serious consequences. Students responsible for such hoaxes may be suspended or expelled from school and/or charged with a crime. These cases can result in felony charges against the person(s) responsible.

During an Actual Threat

If any kind of threat leads to a situation that actually disrupts learning, every school has procuedures in place to respond apporpriately in order to keep students and staff safe. The two primary actions are to place a school in a "Soft" or "Hard" lockdown.

Soft Lockdown - Also known as an Educational Lockdown, this represents a situation where something outside the building has occurred and the school is literally locked to outside visitors. Nobody goes in or out during this time, but staff continues teaching. The principal will make an announcement to all staff with clear directions for students’ movement in the building. Students may be allowed to move freely throughout the building, be escorted by an adult or all may be requested to remain in their current location until additional directions are given. Typical situations that may cause a Soft Lockdown include:
- Medical emergency
- Weather situation
- Internal concern (e.g. a potentially harmful substance found on school property)
- Other disturbance with no immediate safety threat to students and staff

Hard Lockdown - A more serious version of shelter-in-place, this is implemented when there is an imminent threat to students and staff from something or someone in the immediate proximity of the building or possibly inside the building. All classroom doors are locked, lights are turned off and students and staff are to huddle together and keep from being seen through windows and doors as best as possible. Typical situations that may cause a Hard Lockdown include:
- Weather emergency
- Natural disaster
- Police activity nearby
- Active Shooter

What You Can Do

Please make your student(s) aware of the serious consequences of making any kind of threat to harm anyone - at school or off campus, online or in person. A cell phone touchpad or computer keyboard can allow people to feel anonymous and untrackable, but that is not the case. What a student may consider to be "a joke" draws immediate attention when it threatens violence of any kind, so please talk to your children about it.

Young people are also very clever about hiding their online activities. Please do your best to be aware of what your children are posting online. You can find some great resources to help with this at: https://www.commonsense.org/education/family-engagement-resources.

If you do see something suspicious posted by your child or someone else, please contact school officials and/or law enforcement immediately! DO NOT tell your friends or post something about it on social media as this will likely only lead to rumors and misinformation until it is investigated. Again, we take every threat seriously, but can only prevent mishaps if we have information beforehand. If you see something, say something!

Communication

If a credible threat exists at a school, MCS will immediately communicate with affected families. We will do this through our ParentSquare communications platform. It is each parent's responsiblity to make sure their contact information is up-to-date in PowerSchool, which feeds into ParentSquare.

If something suspicious has triggered an investigation, but there is not an immediate threat to students or staff, a communication may or may not go out depending on the situation. Many times, hoaxes are carried out simply to disrupt school and cause fear and anxiety. School officials will weigh the credibility of any threat with the need of families to know of the threat while protecting the physical and mental health of students and staff above all else.

Safety Tip Line

Reporting Bullies

Seclusion and Restraint

School Closings and Delays

Muncie Community Schools makes every effort to notify school families in the event of school closings or delays. If school is canceled or delayed, we will utilize our school messaging system to message families through phone, email and SMS texts. Please review and update your students' information in PowerSchool to ensure messages will be received. In addition, we will also post alerts to our website and social media accounts and provide updates to local media outlets.

Contacts

Robert Scaife

Titles: School Safety Officer Director- Legacy

Email:

Phone Numbers:
School: 765-747-5260
Work: 765-215-8517

Vivian Malone

Titles: School Safety Officer Director-Legacy