Scotia-Glenville Central School District
DRAFT 2026-2027 Districtwide Safety Plan Overview

DWSP Update

On July 25, 2025, Governor Hochul signed “Desha’s Law,” requiring all BOCES and school districts to adopt “Cardiac Emergency Response Plans.” The legislation amends several sections of the Education Law including section 917, which mandates that school districts have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on site. The law now requires that AEDs be “clearly marked, accessible, and maintained consistent with guidelines set by the American Heart Association or other nationally recognized guidelines.” To reinforce AED accessibility signage shall be posted at the main entrance of each BOCES facility explaining where the AEDs are located.

The building level emergency response plans shall address:

• Who will respond during a sudden cardiac arrest, or other life threatening emergency
• Procedures for the incident
• Integration of Nationally recognized emergency response
• Consideration of how to integrate with local emergency responders

As part of our Sudden Cardiac Arrest plans, annual SAVE training for all employees will include general guidelines for responding to a cardiac event. The guidelines will include information from the American Heart Association/American Red Cross or National Safety Council about how to recognize signs and symptoms of cardiac arrest, and how an employee should respond to a cardiac emergency. Prior to the start of special or non-routineevents (e.g. graduation), an event specific Sudden Cardiac Arrest plan should be developed and shared with all staffwho will be participating and/or attending.

Overview

In July 2025, Governor Hochul signed Desha’s Law into place which began requiring school districts to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on site, clearly marked and accessible. As part of the law change, school districts must develop and maintain a cardiac emergency response procedure and integrate it into their confidential building-level emergency response plans. In Scotia-Glenville, this step was completed during the 2025-2026 school year after the law change was announced. The final step is to incorporate information on Desha’s Law into the Districtwide Safety Plan. The updated language in the plan can be found above.

Requirements

As part of the NYS Education Requirements, the Districtwide Safety Plan must be updated, as necessary, and gone through the following steps on an annual basis:

1. Public hearing
2. 30-day comment period
3. Board of Education adoption prior to September 1
4. Submitted to the NYS Education Department within 30 days but no later than October 1

The plan must be made publicly available on the school district website. For Scotia-Glenville, it can be found at District Safety Plan - DRAFT as of 07/01/2026