Review of protocols important to overall safety for students & staff

School Safety Reminder

As this school year progresses, safety remains a priority on all of our campuses. It is important to review key components of our district’s safety protocols to ensure we never lose sight of how school staff and parents must work together during a potential threat.

Since the beginning of the school year, several NISD schools have had to respond to situations near their campus by calling for a lockdown or modified lockdown. As a result of ongoing training and drills, campus staff and students have been able to react calmly and efficiently in these situations.

As a District, we have learned valuable lessons from these experiences and want to share these best practices and expectations during a potential threat.

 

  • We understand that communication is critical. We will work to keep parents informed of any potential threat or incident on their child’s campus utilizing our School Messenger platform. We will do this through email, call out, push notice, and/or text message. In order for parents to ensure they are receiving these messages, first ensure that your child’s school has your most current contact information on file through the school attendance office. If you have children at multiple schools, you only need to contact one to have all records updated. Second, be sure to set your notification preferences by visiting the go.schoolmessenger.com website. Finally, be sure to download the Northside App from the App Store or Google Play.

 

  • During any potential threat or incident, our priority will be the students and staff on site. If you receive notice of any incident at your child’s campus, we ask that you refrain from calling or going to the school. In most cases, students will not be released until law enforcement has provided an all-clear. Your presence on campus could pull valuable staff resources away from addressing the safety of students and staff.

 

  • Keeping students and staff safe is a shared responsibility. We value the reports made by students, parents, and community members to our Safeline regarding any potentially dangerous situation. We ask that you continue to make these reports so that the NISD Police Dept. and campus staff can follow up appropriately. All reports are taken seriously and can be made anonymously, 24/7, by calling 210-397-7233 (SAFE).

 

  • Many times information on social media or other platforms may not be credible. Hoax, or false, reports can cause significant disruption to a school environment creating unnecessary panic. We encourage parents to speak with their children about the harmful effects of incorrect or misleading information. Students who engage in these hoax reports will be subject to disciplinary and/or criminal action.

 

Thank you for a successful start to this school year.