School Safety & Security - School District of Oconee County

SDOC Safety & Security Overview

The mission of the School District of Oconee County is to partner with families to develop responsible, productive citizens who are life-long learners. To be able to meet our mission, our students and staff must be safe in our schools. It is important that our students, parents, and staff understand what we are doing in the area of school safety and what we all can do to keep our schools safe.

Please understand, SDOC does not discuss specific details about procedures or security feature specifications publicly so that this information cannot be used by someone wanting to do harm. If interested in specifics, students, staff, and parents should always feel comfortable asking a school administrator for more information on these topics.

EMERGENCY PLANNING, DRILLS, AND TRAINING

All schools have an Emergency Plan that covers a wide range of possible emergencies including severe weather, fire, utility failures, bomb threats, and active shooters. These plans were developed in conjunction with law enforcement and are reviewed/updated annually.
Emergency drills, announced and unannounced, are conducted frequently with our students and staff for situations such as fires, earthquakes, tornadoes and armed intruders.
After a campus emergency, school administrators, district officials, and public safety personnel meet to conduct an after-action review of the incident to identify areas that may need improvement related to prevention, crisis mitigation, response, and recovery.
Staff members receive ongoing training and information on safety-related topics through presentations distributed and/or facilitated by district-level departments, memos, discussions at staff meetings, and other avenues.
After a major school safety incident occurs in this country, the district’s emergency plans and safety practices are evaluated against the facts of the incident. Adjustments to the plan are made, if needed.

PHYSICAL SECURITY MEASURES

All doors into our schools and other buildings remained locked. Students and staff are taught to “Ignore the Door” - meaning they are not to open a door if someone from the outside tries to enter any door other than the main entrance of a school. Students and staff are reminded to never leave an external door propped open.
All locations use a “single point of entry” for all visitors.
All locations have security cameras that can be accessed by SROs, school and district administrators.
The district utilizes an access control system, which requires authorized badges and card readers to access buildings and allows for that access to be adjusted rapidly as needed.
The district uses a visitor management system to screen individuals prior to entering a school building. Visitors are screened against the national sex offender registry and an internal SDOC database. School volunteers receive additional screening.

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS

A School Resource Officer (SRO) is assigned to each school in the district. SROs are full-time police officers employed by a local enforcement agency.
School Resource Officers participate in regular training and professional development.
District and school administrators work closely with SROs to monitor and improve school and campus safety throughout the district.

THREAT REPORTING, DETECTION, AND ASSESSMENT

SDOC immediately responds to concerns or threats that could impact school safety. The district involves law enforcement in all reported threats determined to be substantive in nature. SDOC has resources available to work on these issues.
SDOC uses Gaggle, an online system that monitors content in students’ school-issued accounts, to detect early warning signs and take action to protect students from harming themselves or others.
The district has a formal threat assessment management process (BTAM) in place that is used to evaluate situations when a possible threat has been made by a student. The process, screening tools and training are based on best practices developed by national experts in this field. The assessment is completed by members of the school Crisis Response Team and the results dictate what interventions and potential safety measures to employ.

SCHOOL CRISIS RESPONSE TEAMS

Members include school administrators, guidance counselors, SRO, mental health counselor, school psychologist, and nurse. Teachers can also serve on the crisis response team.
Team members receive ongoing training in crisis management and the implementation of the district behavioral threat assessment.
The purpose is to maintain safety for students, faculty and staff. The crisis response teams provide leadership, support, and coordinated response during any crisis situation at the school. The team also initiates and implements the BTAM process.

WHAT CAN PARENTS DO?

REPORT THREATS IMMEDIATELY!

If you receive information after-hours about a potential threat and are unable to reach anyone at the school, please contact local law enforcement. Do not wait until the next day! Remember, threats or other emergency information should never be reported only through email.

Discuss school safety with your children. Students should feel comforted knowing that there are emergency plans in place and that drills are designed to better prepare all of us for an emergency. We should feel prepared, but not scared.

Remain engaged with your children. Know who their friends are and where they are spending time. Do not ignore negative changes in behavior. Reach out for assistance, if needed. Get to know your “digital” son or daughter. Be aware and involved in what your children are doing or saying online, especially on social media platforms.

Speak with your children about reporting suspicious activity or threats. Students and parents should feel comfortable sharing that information with a teacher, school administrator, other staff member, or SRO. If the safety of another person is in jeopardy, students should know how important it is to immediately report information. Help fight against the belief among some students that “snitching” is wrong.

If you observe a safety concern on your child’s campus, please report it to a school administrator.

What happens when?

A POTENTIAL THREAT is Discovered/Reported

SDOC TAKES ALL THREATS SERIOUSLY! Plans are in place to address threats reported to administration or if there is collective evidence that suggests the need for a threat assessment.

Red circle with hand holding cell phone - 911

If there is AN indication that violence is imminent law enforcement is notified and CODE RED Emergency Procedures are immediately activated.

When administration is made aware of a threat, an investigation is begun. Members of the crisis response team, which includes administrators, counselors, the SRO, and others, work together to collect information, complete interviews with the students or students involved, parents, teachers, and any others who may have information about the situation. Team members will communicate with parents, outside law enforcement if necessary, as well as district administration. Using the information collected, crisis response team members will determine one of the following:

THERE IS MINIMAL/NO THREAT (transient) - meaning the threat is determined to be an expression of humor, rhetoric, anger, or frustration that can be easily resolved so there is no intent to harm; the person who made the threat retracts it or offers an explanation and/or apology that indicates no intent to harm. At this point, discipline may be assigned and an intervention/support plan will be developed.

THERE IS A POSSIBLE THREAT (substantive) - meaning a more in-depth assessment is necessary to determine the level of risk. Crisis response team members will complete more interviews with the students involved, parents of those students, and others that may have knowledge of the situation. After the collection of more information and data, the team will determine the level of risk. If the situation is determined to be a “high/imminent" risk, law enforcement will be contacted and Code Red procedures will be activated. If the situation is determined to be a “low” or “medium” risk, measures are put in place that include an intervention/support plan, referral to outside services, additional consultation with law enforcement, and discipline may be assigned.

In all situations, follow-up and monitoring plans are put in place and the case is documented in the student’s record and the SC Department of Education's Behavioral Threat Assessment Management system.

COMMUNICATION TO PARENTS & SCHOOL COMMUNITY

Communication in situations involving a possible threat must be handled in a careful manner. We understand parents and community members want to know what is going on. However, the district must balance that desire with the need to protect the integrity of the investigation, the FERPA privacy rights of student(s) involved, and the need to cooperate fully with law enforcement. When warranted, communication will be done through messenger calls, email, and social media platforms.

A Student threatens to harm themselves

SDOC has plans and procedures in place to address a situation where a student has indicated they want to harm themselves.

When there is concern that a student is considering suicide, an adult will remain with the student at all times while the following guidelines and procedures are implemented:

STUDENT HAS ACTIVELY ATTEMPTED TO HARM THEMSELVES (Immediate medical assistance needed) - A school administrator and/or the school nurse will call EMS.. Parents will be contacted as well as the school guidance counselor, school psychologist, mental health counselor, and/or a district social worker. A team of these individuals will work to develop a personal safety plan and a plan for re-entry to school when appropriate, along with providing information to parents about additional resources and referrals to outside support. Safety plans include information on monitoring and follow-up with students in the future.

STUDENT HAS ACTIVELY ATTEMPTED TO HARM THEMSELVES (NO medical assistance needed) - A school administrator will assure safety of the student. And will contact the student’s parents. If it is determined that the student is not safe at school, EMS or other safety measures will be involved. The administrator will involve the school guidance counselor, school psychologist, mental health counselor, and/or a district social worker. A team of these individuals will work to develop a personal safety plan and a plan for re-entry to school when appropriate, along with providing information to parents about additional resources and referrals to outside support. Safety plans include information on monitoring and follow-up with students in the future.

STUDENT HAS THREATENED TO HARM THEMSELVES BUT HAS NOT MADE AN ACTIVE ATTEMPT - A team of at least 2 individuals will conduct an immediate risk assessment led by an administrator, guidance counselor,, school psychologist, mental health counselor, and/or district social worker. Parents will be contacted by a school administrator. A team of these individuals will work to develop a personal safety plan along with providing information to parents about additional resources and referrals to outside support. Safety plans include information on monitoring and follow-up with students in the future.

Board Policy JLDBB-R was adopted by the SDOC Board of Trustees in 2019, with the goal of protecting the health and well-being of all students by having procedures in place to prevent, assess the risk of, intervene in, and respond to suicide.

For more information and resources to support student mental health:

SDOC Social-Emotional and Behavioral Health Resources Guide

After reading this information, you may think, “there are not many details or specifics given.” That is intentional. We want our parents and community to understand the general overview of our plans and processes, but it is important to keep the specifics confidential so that they remains effective. If we were to share specifics about interview protocols, we have now given someone who may intend harm to themselves or others the ability to answer questions in a way to avoid detection, thereby making our processes ineffective in identifying real threats

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