Health & Safety
About
The health and well-being of scholars are critical to their engagement and success in school. Westbury Union Free School District has a Registered Nurse in every building who works daily to promote student health and wellness.
Your school nurse responds to student injuries and illness, manages chronic health conditions, works to prevent infectious diseases, and is a resource for students, parents, and staff. If you have any questions about your student’s health, your should be your first contact.
- Dryden Street Elementary Nurse
- Drexel Avenue Elementary Nurse
- Park Avenue Elementary Nurse
- Powells Lane Elementary Nurse
- Westbury Middle School Nurse
- Westbury High School Nurse
Dryden Street Elementary Nurse
Drexel Avenue Elementary Nurse
Barbara Jacobowitz
T: 516.874.1406
E: bjacobowitz@westburyschools.org
Park Avenue Elementary Nurse
Laura Penfold
T: 516.874.1509
E: lpenfold@westburyschools.org
Powells Lane Elementary Nurse
Westbury Middle School Nurse
Fran Goodness
T: 516.874.1223
E: fgoodness@westburyschools.org
Westbury High School Nurse
Frances Higgins-Slear
T: 516.874.1034
E: fhiggins@westburyschools.org
ELLIE DOUGHERTY
T: 516.874.1034
E: edougherty@westburyschools.org
Forms
District-Wide Safety Plan
The Westbury Union Free School District Districtwide School Safety Plan (as required by the SAVE Law – Safe Schools Against Violence in Education – Commissioner of Education Regulation 155.17) has been established to provide for the safety, health and security of both students and staff and allows for input from the entire school community. This particular component of Project SAVE is a comprehensive planning effort that addresses risk reduction/prevention, response and recovery with respect to a variety of emergencies that may occur in the Westbury UFSD and its component school buildings.
The Board of Education has appointed, under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools, a Districtwide School Safety Team to develop, implement and maintain all provisions of the Plan. This Plan incorporates all Building‐Level Emergency Response Plans that have been developed by the Building‐Level Emergency Response Teams appointed by the Building Principals. In the event of an emergency or violent incident, the initial response at an individual school building will be the responsibility of the school building Emergency Response Team. Upon activation of the school building Emergency Response Team the Superintendent of Schools or designee and appropriate local emergency response officials will be notified. The nature of any given emergency will dictate the degree of interaction with both State and Local Emergency Response Agencies. The local BOCES Health & Safety Office will assist in development of protocols for accessing these services.
The Districtwide School Safety Team reviewed and approved the Districtwide School Safety Plan. The Districtwide School Safety Plan was made available for public comment 30 days prior to its adoption and provided for participation of the entire school community. By September 1st of each school year, the Districtwide and Building‐Level Plans are formally adopted by the School Board after at least one public hearing. As required by law, the Districtwide School Safety Plan is posted on the school district website by October 1st of each school year and will be reviewed annually by the Districtwide School Safety Team by September 1st of each school year. Building‐Level Emergency Response Plans will be updated by September 1st of each school year by the Building‐level Emergency Response Team and filed with both State and Local Police by October 1st of each school year.
Emergency Remote Instruction Plan
Introduction
During the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) introduced a "snow day pilot" program amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This initiative permitted school districts to conduct remote instruction on days when they would typically be closed due to emergencies.
To enhance predictability for districts, the NYSED Board of Regents, in September 2022, modified section 175.5(e) of the Commissioner's regulations to formalize this flexibility. Districts facing emergencies could choose to continue classes through remote learning, counting these days toward the annual hours required for State Aid, although it wasn't mandatory. The instruction had to adhere to the definition of remote instruction, as outlined below. Furthermore, starting in the 2023-2024 school year, the instruction must align with the school district's Emergency Remote Instruction Plan.
The NYSED also revised section 155.17 of the Commissioner's regulations, mandating public schools, BOCES, and county vocational education and extension boards to adjust their District-Wide School Safety Plans to incorporate provisions for remote instruction from the 2023-2024 school year onwards. This allowed the public to offer input on these plans before adoption. The Emergency Remote Instruction Plan had to outline methods to ensure device availability, internet access, provision of special education and related services for students with disabilities, and expectations for time spent in various remote modalities.
These plans also required each chief executive officer of educational agencies within a public school district to annually report information on student access to computing devices and the internet.
NYSED added section 100.1 of the Commissioner's regulations to define "remote instruction." This definition covered various delivery methods but emphasized that, in all instances, there must be regular and substantive teacher-student interaction with a properly certified teacher.
The NY State Board of Regents approved the amendments above, which became a permanent rule on September 28, 2022. Sections 200.7, 200.16, and 200.20 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education were amended and became effective on September 13, 2022, and December 12, 2022, through an emergency action to preserve the general welfare. This allowed approved special education providers to deliver remote instruction in the 2022-2023 school year on days they would otherwise close due to an emergency. These amendments specified the minimum requirements for counting instructional days and identified various methods for delivering remote instruction. These changes extended the same flexibility for remote instruction under emergency conditions to approved private schools for students with disabilities, state-supported schools, state-operated schools, and approved preschool special education programs. The final rule's effective date was January 25, 2023.
School-Based Health Center
Our school-based health center program is designed to provide healthcare services to the scholars of Westbury High School in partnership with Harmony Healthcare Long Island. The healthcare facility is conveniently located in Room 121 at Westbury High School, 1 Post Road, Old Westbury, New York and is open during school hours from Monday to Friday. If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please don't hesitate to contact us at 516.874.1970. We are committed to ensuring the well-being of our scholars and look forward to serving you.