The Reading Safe School Department includes 50 Safe School Officers. The department's mission statement is: To enforce the rules and regulations of the school district and provide a safe learning environment for both students and staff through courtesy, professionalism and respect.

The Reading Safe Schools Department consists of three School Police Officers (SPOs), who are sworn in by Berks County Courts. They have the authority to make arrests and issue summon citations, The department's safe schools staff patrol the halls and ensure student and staff safety. They also oversee building entrances to ensure visitors sign in and provide proper identification before entering the school building. There are currently 69 SSO’s, 4 Leads, and 4 SPOs.

Standard Response Protocol

In case of an emergency, we want our students, staff and families to feel safe and be prepared. We want you to understand the five common actions we will use during an emergency and know what to do when you hear them.

Some of the actions might sound familiar to you, while others are new actions that we will now be using as a part of our school district’s Standard Response Protocol.

The five actions are: 

Hold: During a hold action, movement throughout the building is limited, hallways are cleared, and students and staff are directed to remain in their areas or classrooms. 

Secure: During a secure action, students and staff are brought inside the school, and outside doors are locked. No one is permitted in or out of the building during a SECURE action. Teachers will continue teaching as normal. The hallways DO NOT need to be cleared and students will transition to their next class at the bell.

Lockdown: During a lockdown action, students and staff are brought inside the school, outside doors are locked, students and staff move out of sight in locked areas or classrooms with lights off. 

Evacuate: When an evacuation action is called, students are led to a predetermined evacuation location by adults. Students are instructed to leave backpacks behind.

Shelter: When a shelter action is called, students will be given instructions on the appropriate safety strategy to follow for the hazard that led to the shelter action. For example, tornado, hazmat, flood, etc.