Hello Lakewood Schools Families,
Hopefully, you have seen my previous two communications about our Safety Strategy. This is the third message in the series, aimed to share more about our safety practices, protocols, and procedures, so you feel more informed about our efforts to keep students and staff safe every day.
As a reminder, there are four pillars to our Safety Strategy:
To re-read the message introducing these pillars, visit here. To re-read the message about our Safety Planning, visit here.
The pillar I am focusing on in this message is Communications – all of the people we deploy, and the tools and channels we use, to get information out in the event of a safety situation. We understand that it can be frustrating when a situation occurs and we are not able to share information immediately or provide specific details (for example, during an active investigation or when there is a rumor is spread on social media that requires investigation). In addition to our responsibility to keep our campuses safe, we are equally responsible for protecting individual students’ privacy and safety. You have our commitment to share what we are able to, as soon as we are able. Please know that when there is a concern for student safety, you will be notified immediately.
Public Information Officers (PIOs)
Each of the schools in our district has its own Emergency Operations Plan. These plans outline specific people at each school who will serve as public information officers (PIOs) for the school or district in case of an emergency. These PIOs will be receiving information from different sources including law enforcement, as well as sending critical information out to parents and the community. Most frequently, the superintendent, principals, or other administration will serve as the PIO in these instances.
Communications Channels
We use many different channels to communicate with our school families, as well as the public. Some of these channels are:
- OneCall – our phone communication system
- FinalForms – our email communications platform
- Website – our District website and building webpages are a repository of information and news
- Social Media – we use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to communicate announcements, news, and general activity within the District
Our District staff are always open to conversations with students; however, in the event that a student does not feel comfortable talking with our staff in person, we also have an anonymous Safety Tip Hotline available for students to report safety concerns.
Lastly, these messages I have been sending are an extension of the Communications pillar – by distributing them, we are further informing you about our safety strategies and plans. Thank you for your continuing attention to these messages, and your continued partnership in keeping our District safe.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mark Gleichauf
Superintendent