HSD families,
The school shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend on Thursday was tragic and troubling. I want to acknowledge this terrible event and let families know about the safety preparation that we have done in Hockinson School District to protect students. Safety is always our number one priority at our schools.
The HSD has a district-level safety team that is made up of me, our nurses, and safety designees in each of our school buildings. We meet every month and work hard to have the necessary practices in place and supplies/equipment available to respond to an array of emergencies and scenarios. All of our administrators participate in the annual Clark County Summit and. Sid Slom, Dean of Students & Athletic Director at Hockinson Middle School, is our district's representative on the Clark County Safe Schools Task Force.
Hockinson School District uses the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to safely and effectively respond to a variety of emergency situations. The SRP is a set of uniform, planned, and practiced incident response protocols that help to keep our schools safer. Standardizing the vocabulary that we use during an incident keeps school staff, parents, and emergency responders on the same page.
If anyone in a school community sees something that is concerning, there's no margin for error for the diffusion of responsibility. Our staff are well trained on reporting safety concerns immediately,. We encourage families and students to report any safety concerns immediately to (link).
We all have an obligation to be vigilant and well-versed in emergency responses. We hope that we will never have to respond, but we will always be prepared.
I also want to pass along this resource in case you discuss school safety with your children:
In addition to our usual safety protocols and trainings, we will be offering some parent education classes this year at HHES and a safety night for our families this year. More info on these events soon.
With care,
Steve