As part of the district’s ongoing commitment to school safety, a school safety hotline is in place for the Gateway Regional School District. The hotline—which is monitored by Joshua Fanion, Gateway’s Security Monitor—is a voice mailbox that can be used to report harassment, bullying, drug or alcohol concerns, vandalism, and school safety issues. The purpose of the Safety Hotline is to help keep Gateway schools safe for all students.
Students, parents, and community members can leave a message on the Safety Hotline by calling (413) 685-1050. The system works like an answering machine, and callers can leave their name and details about their concern, including the names of others involved, dates, times and location. Callers’ names will be kept confidential. Fanion will check messages left on the hotline and report concerns to the appropriate Gateway principal or community agency.
The hotline was generated years ago by Gateway’s participation in the Safe Schools, Healthy Students grant held by the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton, and approved by Gateway’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools Task Force. In the final report compiled by the United States Secret Service and the United States Department of Education (“Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States”) researchers found that in 81% of instances of school violence studied, at least one person had information that the attacker was planning the school attack. In nearly two thirds of the incidents, more than one person had information.
Anyone wishing to voice his or her concerns regarding school safety at Gateway is welcome to call the hotline at 685-1050.