Comprehensive Safety

Preventive measures are those things we do to prevent risks or incidents from happening in our schools. Examples of our preventive measures include:

Report a Safety Concern

Students, staff, families and community can report concerns anonymously using text, email, voicemail, or reporting through the website. 

District Student Survey

Data is used to monitor students’ social emotional health and well-being. Among the data collected are student concerns about school safety and schools have the ability to use this information to develop plans for interventions and supports for students.

School Counselors

School counselors play a critical role in preventive support for our students. We have taken the initial step this school year to increase our staffing levels for our school counselors and will continue increase staffing levels over the next three years to lower the number of students that counselors have on their caseloads

School Psychologists

School psychologies engage in data collection, behavior and mental health interventions, they work with diverse learners to support academic achievement, behavior and mental health. School psychologists can also be a resource for improving school climate and connectedness.  School psychologists also serve on PREPaRE and our Student Safety Team.

Family Resource Advocates

Family Resource Advocates provide holistic support to students and families and assist them with accessing resources in the community. This contributes to student well-being and safety by eliminating barriers that may be preventing a student from accessing school.

Nurses

Nurses contribute to student safety more globally through environmental health. This includes issues like managing communicable disease outbreaks, injury prevention, supporting school health needs during an emergency.

Partnerships with CHS and THS

Partnerships with Compass Health Services (CHS) and Therapeutic Health Services (THS) provides our students with access to licensed mental health therapists who provide more ongoing therapeutic treatment for students.

Joon

Edmonds School District has partnered with Joon to provide free therapy and help for district students between 13 and 26 years old. 

Partnerships with Law Enforcement- School Liaison Officers

We have developed very strong, collaborative relationships with our local jurisdictions and one of the ways that that are supporting our schools is through the school liaison officer program 

Securly24

Being aware of our students’ activities online is critical to student safety. We use a service called Securly24 which actively monitors student activity on district devices and notifies school principals when there is something that needs to be followed up on.

Protective measures are those things we do for the physical environment in our schools to address potential threats or risks to safety.  Examples include:

Physical upgrades to current facilities

New school construction design

The district regularly reviews the latest industry recommendations regarding security and safety in the design of new school buildings. 

Safety related staff

Safety and Emergency Preparedness Specialist
The Safety and Emergency Preparedness Specialist focuses on supporting schools in developing emergency plans, ensuring that monthly drills are conducted and assists in the management of specific emergency situations that may arise in our schools.

Threat Assessment Protocol

Visitor/Volunteer Management Systems

All potential volunteers go through an application process and criminal background check to ensure they have been cleared to volunteer in our schools. We ask all visitors to sign in at main offices as soon as they arrive in our schools. 

Mitigation measures are action we take to minimize the potential impacts that may be caused by an incident at one of our schools.

Emergency Drills

In accordance with state law, we require all schools to perform safety drills. In our drill plans, schools have specific guidance and suggestions for ways to approach each drill.

Incident Command System

Incident Command System (ICS) is an organizational system developed to respond to emergencies and incidents. It is a national system that all public agencies use in the creation of emergency plans. The written plan includes specific task-driven job descriptions and an organizational chart to ensure all aspects of the emergency response are addressed.

Rapid Responder

Rapid Responder is a statewide online system where all drills are entered to help us ensure compliance with state mandates for drills. This system also documents school building information for use by first responders. 

Easy Alert

Easy Alert is a communications tool used by staff for emergencies and other incidents. It's a secure way for staff to collaborate and improve real-time response.

Incident Command System (ICS)

ICS is activated during an emergency in order to organize staff and ensure all aspects of a response are covered. 

Partnerships with Law Enforcement

Through law enforcement partnerships, we are able to quickly response to emergency situations.

Communication Tools

• Parent Square - Can send automated texts, phone calls, emails and push notifications to families and staff.
• Social Media - Timely updates are posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, depending on the situation.

Emergency Operations Center

In an emergency, the district office can open an emergency operations center that will allow for effective communication with schools through radio systems and even dedicated emergency landline phones in the event that radios and cell phones are not available.

We have plans and processes in place to help us return to normal operations as soon as we possible after an incident.  Our post event measures include:

Family Reunification

Following an event at one more schools, all schools have family reunification plans which provide for a process to ensure that students and family members are reunited safely.

Follow up communications for staff, students, families, community

Our communications team assists in developing clear messaging to students, families and community with information related to the incident.

PREPaRE Team response

The Prepare Team is a group of staff who may respond to staff onsite at school experiencing trauma as a result of an incident. The team prepares for response to emergency situations but also supports the post emergency response by reaffirming perceptions of safety and security, by responding to mental health needs, and by providing specific interventions for students who may be impacted by an incident.

After Action Reviews

After every serious incident, district and school staff meet to discuss the event to address what went well and what we could learn.