October is safety month and our schools are busy talking about fire prevention and bus safety and conducting building drills. Our families play an important role in helping to keep our students safe, too! Here’s how you can help:
- Recently changed jobs, addresses or phone numbers? Be sure to update your contact information with your child’s school so that you receive emergency and weather-related SchoolMessenger notifications.
- Have you practiced your Family Emergency Plan? Have a Family Emergency Plan and an alternate child care provider in place and listed as an emergency contact in your child’s record in the event of an early dismissal. Students may only be released from school to a parent or emergency contact designated for student release and photo identification is required. WOS parents, make sure those alternate providers are listed on the Bus Designee Form you’ve submitted to the Transportation Office. Students in Grades 3 and up should know how to get into their home and/or have a safe neighbor to go to if you aren’t home.
- Wait for information from official SOCSD channels rather than rush to a site. Parents and guardians will be alerted by SOCSD via SchoolMessenger email when their child’s school is managing an incident that has occured. If parent action is needed, SchoolMessenger robocalls, in addition to emails, will be sent to all primary and emergency contact phone numbers listed in student records.
- Remember: SOCSD administrators, district communications channels (SchoolMessenger, website, etc.) and law enforcement personnel are the ONLY official sources of information in a school emergency. Be aware that students and people outside of our community are members of local social media groups. To help us keep our students and staff safe, do not share details regarding school district emergency procedures on social media.
For more information and resources, click on Emergency Response under Quick Links at socsd.org.