Letter about School Safety

I shared the beginning of this letter at the Back to School nights last week.  I said that I would share details of the safety plans and answer some commonly asked questions, I apologize for the length of this letter but the information is very important…

 

One thing I reflected on, from the end of last school year, was the school shooting at Noblesville Middle School.  While these situations seem to occur more and more, never has one been so close to home.  I fear that with our 24 hour news cycle and the short attention spans of social media, these tragedies will soon be considered the norm by those that report such horrific attacks on our children.

 

I would like to reassure our SPX families that we have safety plans in place, in case of an emergency of any kind. These safety plans are fluid, as it is important that we learn from these events in hopes to be the best prepared, as no 2 situations have really been the same. We review and update our safety plans each year.  We communicate and train our staff with all the most up-to-date procedures and they in-turn will practice with our students.

 

Below are some commonly asked questions from parents, regarding the safety of our children and our procedures.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions.

 

What is the current lock down procedure for an active school shooter?

In the event of a lockdown situation, all teachers are to make sure there are no students in the hallways, close and lock their doors, turn off the lights and sit quietly away from doors and windows.  We are currently looking into new door handles that will allow teachers to be more efficient in this process.  Our hope is to have this completed in the very near future.

 

How will parents be notified if there is an active school shooter?  Via text, phone call?  Immediately or after the lockdown?
There are different types of lockdowns that could occur at school and each has a different procedure including how it is communicated.

 

1.  School lockdown - students are still allowed to go from classroom to classroom, but will not be allowed outside the building for any reason.  We will NOT allow anyone to enter the building.  This has happened at times when a suspect was in the area of our school and the police have notified us to lock down.  In this instance, we will inform parents of the events via email after the situation has been resolved.  If the timing of such lockdown affects drop off or pick up, parents will be notified via the OneCall Now system with instructions of procedural changes.

 

2.  Classroom lockdown - all teachers are to make sure there are no students in the hallways, close and lock their doors, turn off the lights and sit quietly away from doors and windows. This is what Noblesville MS had to do.  In this case, parents will be notified as soon as the situation is safe and under control, via the phone messaging system OneCall Now.  If this were to happen, instructions will follow as to what to do to retrieve children.  No communications will go out until the police have secured the location, and a plan is made for parents to pick up the children.  The more people that are on campus, in the event of such a circumstance, make things difficult for police, EMT, fire and rescue, so we will not notify parents until the procedures are in place. 

 

3.  School/Church evacuation - in the event we have to evacuate the school/church property, we have an agreement with the North Side Baptist Church and all students and staff will be relocated to the church.  In the event this happens, once all students are accounted for, the OneCall Now system will be used to notify parents and give instructions for pick up. 

 

Please understand that we have these procedures in place for everyone’s safety - your children and our staff.  So please do not come to the property until you receive instructions. This is critical for a couple of reasons:

1.       If the suspect is still at large, we do not want those involved questioning a parent who wants to make sure their child is all right.  We want the first responders involved in the search to focus only on the suspect.

2.       If you were to fill the parking lot, or line the streets with parked cars, the proper emergency vehicles might not be able to get into the parking lot.

3.       The students may have already been evacuated to another location, much like what happened at Noblesville MS, and this will cause more confusion.

 

What is the lockdown procedure on Mass days going to and from the church?

In the event that a situation arises as students are moving to and from the church, supervising teacher(s) will decide which building is closest and move the students towards that building.  In the event we are in a building lockdown, for example, the police have a suspect on the loose, students will remain in the school and not pass outside to church or vice versa until we have been notified by police that the situation is cleared.

 

What is the lockdown procedure during Mass?

At this time, we do not have a lockdown procedure at Mass.  We have discussed this at parish staff meetings, and will be formulating a plan soon.  Once this is completed, it will be shared with all involved.

 

How often do the students practice these procedures?

The state of Indiana requires that we do fire drills, once per month, and tornado drills, and security drills once per semester.

 

How are the students and teachers being instructed to address other students who may make threatening accusations or are demonstrating abnormal behavior?

If a student experiences or observes another student making threatening accusations or exhibiting abnormal behavior, we ask they tell an adult immediately - a teacher, parent, assistant, administrator, an adult of any kind.  These reports should then be communicated to the administration for investigation. Our staff has received bullying awareness and training and this will continue to be an ongoing part of our monthly staff meetings.  Teachers encourage students to reach out to an adult if another student is experiencing difficulties and we ask that parents encourage the children to do the same. 

 

Again, please know that your children’s safety is of our utmost concern and we are constantly striving to anticipate and prevent any of these situations and if one should occur, respond immediately and appropriately.  Please do not hesitate to contact me to further discuss or if I can answer any other questions.