Families

The Westport Community School District has created a Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan as required by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education under M.G.L. c. 71 370. This plan has been created in consultation with school personnel, advocacy organizations, parents, students, and other interested parties. All related files are attached below.

• Reporting Incidents of Bullying

• Bullying Prevention
• Bullying Prevention and Intervention Incident Reporting Form
   

Chaperones are very important people in the Westport Community Schools district. We value the service you provide for our students and hope that you will continue to want to be part of making a difference in the lives of our students. The purpose of this information is to bring to your attention changes in the law.

On January 10, 2013, Governor Patrick signed Chapter 459 of the Acts of 2012, “An Act Relative to Background Checks.”  Those who may have direct and un-monitored contact with children as defined in the act are required to be fingerprinted in accordance with this act.

“Direct and un-monitored contact with children” means contact with a child when no other Federal and State Background Check cleared employee of the school or district is present. A person having only the potential for incidental unsupervised contact with children in commonly used areas of the school grounds, such as hallways, shall not be considered to have the potential for direct and un-monitored contact with children. These excluded areas do not include bathrooms and other isolated areas (not commonly utilized and separated by sight or sound from other staff) that are accessible to students. In accordance with this definition on December 4 & 18, 2013 the Westport School Committee voted on policies for the district for all chaperones to be fingerprinted for the start of the 2014-2015 school year.

The Statewide Applicant Fingerprint Identification Services (SAFIS) MorphoTrust USA IndentoGo™ registration website is available beginning today for applicants to begin scheduling fingerprinting appointments. Westport Community Schools is currently acting as a temporary host site from now through August, 2014.

Please find attached for your review the SAFIS Registration Guide for Pre-K-12th Grade Education (ESE). You will be required to provide Westport Community Schools ESE Provider ID/Organization Code: 03310000 (Chaperones, Substitutes, Student Teachers, and Subcontractors may provide up to 10 districts organization codes to eliminate the need to pay the fee multiple times).

Unlike state CORI checks that have no associated fee, individuals will pay a fee to comply with this requirement that ranges from up to $35 for non-licensed individuals to up to $55 for DESE license-holders (including those with pending applications/license regardless of whether you are working under it or not).

Please feel free to email Kristin McDaniel if you have any questions or concerns.

• SAFIS Form – How to change, correct, or update your national criminal history record response
• SAFIS Program – Registration Guide
• CORI 2024–2025

In our continuing efforts to enhance communication with students and their families, Westport Community Schools is excited to introduce our Community Portal via SchoolBrains, our student information system.

The portal is capable of providing you with a great deal of information and I encourage you to log on and become familiar with the system. The information available to you may include the following:

• Student Contact Information
• Daily Attendance
• Student Schedules
• Most Recent Report Card
• Assignments
• Behavior Referrals

Through an agreement between the Westport School Committee and the Westport Education Association, teachers shall progress monitor (including but not limited to, homework, quizzes, test, final grade, reading level, standard, behavior comments, etc.) and post information to SchoolBrains for progress reports, report cards, and for at least one time midway between each progress report and report card. Many people may be posting information more regularly, and the other demographic data and attendance information are kept very current. I encourage you to check the system on a regular basis.

The first time you log in you will be prompted to change your password, your new password must be at least five characters in length. We recommend including at least one capital letter, number or punctuation mark so that your password will be difficult for others to guess.

Please note that SchoolBrains Information System protects your information with the same advanced technology that banks and other business entities utilize. In addition, the portal has been configured to protect your family’s confidential information and only those with login accounts provided by Westport Community Schools can access that information.

• Westport Community Schools - Community Portal (Website Access)

The decision to delay or close school is made by the Superintendent as early as circumstances permit. Usually the decision is made by 5:15 a.m., but changing weather conditions could result in a later decision.

Since the decision must be made so early in the morning and the efficiency with which the town and state can treat the roads may differ, it is difficult to make decisions with precision. As the superintendent, I make the final decision to cancel classes based on the best information available and with student safety in mind. However, should classes be held and you feel that specific conditions in your area are unsafe; of course you may decide to keep your child home.

Once the decision is made, messages go to area radio and TV stations. The timeliness of local station broadcasts is beyond our control. Participating stations are listed here.

If a delay is necessary, all schools will be open 60-120 minutes later in the day. Buildings will open late after the usual starting time, and buses will arrive later according to the new start time to pick up students. As building personnel will also be arriving later to school, parents who drive their students to school should plan to drop them at school 60-120 minutes later, too. Please understand that school personnel will not be available to supervise at the regular starting time.

Parents should also work with the school to prepare an emergency plan for various inclement weather contingencies. It is especially important to have an early dismissal plan for children who attend the lower grades. If weather and safety issues warrant early dismissal, notification will be made over the same radio and television stations listed above, as well as the district’s website. Parents should take appropriate precautions and should monitor local radio and television stations for notification of a cancellation.

In the event of a possible weather-related early release, parents/guardians are asked to listen to the radio and television or check our website and are requested not to call schools or school personnel, because business telephone lines must be kept clear during such emergencies. If we have your current contact information, you will be notified by our automated system.

Channel 7 Weather App

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Radio Stations

• WSAR 1480
• WBSM 1420
• WPRO 630
• WPRO-FM 92.3
• WSNE-FM 93.3
• WHJJ 920
• WHJY-FM 94.1
• WWBB-FM 101.5
• WWLI-FM 105.1
• WFHN-FM 107.1

Television Stations

• Channel 64
• Channel 36
• Channel 28
• Channel 25
• Channel 12
• Channel 10
• Channel 7
• Channel 6
• Channel 5
• Cable Channel 16 (early dismissals only)

Alert Notification

• Twitter

• Parent Report Card Notification Letter- 2/15/2024

• Grades 7 through 12
• Athletic User Fee $175 / Individual Cap at $350 / Family Cap at $500
• Cheerleading Fee $125
• Student Activity Fee $25
• Parking Fee $15 per student
• Transportation Fee Grades 7-12 $200 Cap at $400 per family

Click to assess Title 1 information page

• Chaperones Background Check Review
• Staff/Volunteer/Intern Confidentiality Agreement
• Food Approval Form
• MAC Volunteer Handbook
• Volunteer Emergency Form
• CORI 2024–2025