Everyone is a Safety Officer

THE MARK Highlights

MUSD PLAYS IT SAFE

Everyone is a Safety Officer Understanding the Phases of a School Emergency – And How you Can Help

SAFETY

School safety involves everyone in the MUSD community, including students, staff, families, and community members. As we prepare for Winter Break, it’s an opportune time to reflect on the ways we can all play a part to ensure campus safety.

Preparation – What MUSD Does to Prepare for School Emergencies Manteca Unified has an in-depth District Emergency Plan that includes detailed safety protocols for various threats or crisis situations. This plan evolves as necessary to reflect current local, state, and national conditions.

No one likes to think about the possibility of an emergency happening at their school or workplace, but by having a strategy and system in place to keep us prepared, we can better respond to and manage a crisis.

With this in mind, MUSD utilizes a District Incident Comment team which is made up of key personnel from various departments. Team members are both on the frontlines and behind the scenes when a school emergency occurs, working to ensure the safety of both students and staff.

This school year, representatives from the District Incident Command team are hosting quarterly meetings with our local Law Enforcement partners, including the Manteca, Lathrop and Stockton Unified Police Departments. These meetings allow us the opportunity to consistently evaluate

our practices and protocols with safety experts from agencies that serve schools.

Members of the District Incident Command team also attend specialized safety trainings with school administrators to ensure all school safety plans and teams are prepared and ready to respond should a crisis occur. Most recently, District and school administrators attended a training with FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to learn how to leverage local, state, and national agencies during a crisis – an essential tool when navigating various natural disaster scenarios.

What you can do at home to prepare for a school incident: We urge all families to have discussions at home about safety.

These discussions can include simple – but important – tips, like remembering to look both ways while crossing the street. Parents and support providers are often the people a child trusts most, so by talking to your child(ren) about what to do in the event of an emergency, you play a critical role in helping support student and campus safety.

THE MARK Highlights

MUSD PLAYS IT SAFE

Students par tice in a er dril.

Prevention – What MUSD Does to Prevent School Emergencies

fake social media profiles to make threats against teachers or fellow students.

To help prevent possible emergencies, school safety teams implement regular “school safety audits”, to review facilities, security measures and possible hazards and establish individualized prevention measures to be taken throughout the school year.

While something seen on TikTok or Instagram may seem like a joke, Manteca Unified takes all threats seriously – and will involve the police to investigate if a threat is made if necessary.

Preventative measures include the presence of a School Resource Officer (SRO) on campus, up-to-date surveillance systems, various safety drills, new fire alarm systems (click here for a video!), as well as perimeter fencing around each school, allowing the safety team to closely monitor activity inside and near the school campus.

What you can do at home to prevent school emergencies: The best way to prevent a school crisis is to be thoughtful and proactive about everyone’s safety – and we need your help with this.

Recent social media trends that challenge users to participate in stunts or activities have gained momentum in recent years. While most of these “challenges” are silly and fun, some can be dangerous by encouraging violent or harmful behavior, including creating

Talking to your children about safe and responsible social media use is a key prevention strategy.

Response – How MUSD Communicates During & Following a School Emergency The safety drills practiced at school sites are a planned response to an emergency. As part of the response phase, when there is an incident on campus, the school will take what is known as a “school action”, meaning the principal or incident command leader will order the school to take specific actions either as a precaution or in direct response to a threat.

During a school action, the District utilizes its Crisis Communication Plan to convey facts and safety information to families via phone call, email, text, and/or social media. When parents receive messages from their school or the District during or following a school emergency, the following school action terms may be used:

SCHOOL ACTION TERMS Understanding the terms we use when sending information about a school crisis is very important. We recommend you review these terms regularly as a reminder of what these school actions mean, and also discuss them with your children. If you would like to learn how you can be more involved, we encourage you to meet with your school’s administration and safety team.

SECURE CAMPUS Secure Campus means all classrooms and office doors are closed and locked, and all students and staff remain inside until otherwise directed. Instruction continues in the classroom, but no one is allowed to enter or exit the campus.

This precautionary action is caused by a potential threat of danger on or near campus. A secure campus allows a school to quickly transition to a lockdown if it becomes necessary.

SHELTER-IN-PLACE Shelter-in-Place means all students and staff must remain in or return to their classrooms and offices, all doors, windows, and vents are closed and secured, HVAC (air and heating) units are shut down to keep outside air out, and air scrubber units are turned on.

This action is taken when students and staff need to be isolated from the outdoor environment for protection against external airborne contaminants. For example, a Shelter-in-Place may be ordered if smoke particles in the air have reached an unsafe level.

LOCKDOWN Lockdown means all classrooms, offices, and school facility doors are closed and locked, windows are covered, lights are turned off, and doors may be barricaded from the inside depending on the specific threat. All normal school operations including instruction stop, and no one is allowed to enter or exit the campus.

EVACUATION Evacuation means students and staff are moved from school buildings to a predetermined safe location.

This action is taken when conditions outside the building or off-site are safer than inside or on-site. For example, an evacuation may be carried out if there is a fire on campus.

Recovery – What MUSD Does to Recover from School Emergencies The most important part of recovery after any kind of school incident is to address the emotional impact felt by students, staff, and families. As such, MUSD partners with various agencies to offer resources and support services to those in need.

School administrators will continually assess the emotional climate of students and staff and determine how to best provide supplemental programs for coping. Campus safety inspections and incident debrief meetings will also take place to assist with recovery efforts.

What you can do at home to help recovery from a school emergency: After an incident occurs at school, it’s important to have frequent “checkins” with your child to see how they’re doing mentally, physically, and emotionally. Families are encouraged to seek out any academic, safety, or social-emotional support their child(ren) may need.

As we prepare for Winter Break, a time when we often gather to celebrate the things we’re most grateful for, it’s important to cherish our loved ones and do what we can to keep each other safe.

In MUSD, school safety is a collective responsibility – we are all safety officers.