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Category: Health & Safety Portfolio

  • Snow day, delay or remote? Let your community know what to expect

    Communications considerations and sample language for weather-related school closures.

  • Advisory: Promoting the 988 mental health helpline

    This post provides considerations for communicating about the newly established Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Line.

  • Continuation of operations plans must be posted online

    Ensure that your district’s continuation of operations plan is posted in compliance with state law

  • Advisory: Clarification on distribution of concussion-related materials

    Earlier this fall, the School Communications Portfolio released an advisory for districts regarding new legislation that requires schools offering tackle football programs to provide specific concussion materials to parents/guardians of participating students. There has been some confusion as to how exactly districts need to distribute the materials, which are available on the New York State Department of Health…

  • Advisory: New law requires schools offering tackle football programs to provide specific concussion information

    State legislation requires school districts to make concussion-related materials available for parents and guardians. Learn about what and how to communicate this information.

  • Advisory: Updated substance abuse materials released by the state

    Earlier this month, the New York State Education Department and the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services issued updated joint guidance and resources for school districts to assist with addressing substance abuse. The collaboration provides districts with information to assist students, teachers and parents looking for help and support related to…

  • Advisory: Religious exemptions removed from state vaccination law

    With the worst outbreak of measles in more than 25 years taking place in the United States and outbreaks in New York state primarily driving the crisis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 13 signed a bill into law that immediately removed the religious exemption for school vaccination requirements. Per the amendment to Public Health Law…

  • Help students, and parents, get the facts about vaping

    Poster, social media and video resources available By 2017, more than 2 million teenagers were using e-cigarettes, and e-cigarettes surpassed combustible cigarettes as the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. middle and high school students, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). School districts are increasingly encountering these battery-operated vaping devices, often…

  • Introducing a School Resource Officer (SRO) to your community

    The number of school resource officers (SROs) in New York is on the rise as districts add these specialized positions to address school safety concerns.

  • Advisory: Mental health instruction now required in New York schools

    New York is the first state in the country to require schools to include mental health instruction as part of their health education curriculum. If you are planning to communicate about this change in your school district, keep in mind that many schools previously included mental health education as part of their regular, required health…

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