Superintendent's Message to Community Following Florida School Shooting - February 20, 2018

Superintendent Message - February 20, 2018
Superintendent's Message to Community Following Florida School Shooting

Dear Carlsbad Unified Parents, Staff and Community,

Our thoughts are with the victims and their families in Parkland, Florida.

This tragedy highlights the critical importance of ensuring that Carlsbad schools remain safe places for our students and staff. In the aftermath of this traumatic event, the National Association of School Psychologists notes there are effective ways to talk with students, including:

• create a sense of safety by returning to normal, predictable routines as soon as possible
• listen to their concerns and feelings
• suggest they limit their use of media to lower their stress and to maintain balance and perspective, and
• realize that sleep difficulties are common and can lead to fatigue and poor school participation

When these events occur, it is important that we review our own policies and procedures and ensure that we are as ready as possible in the event that a similar incident occurs in our schools. Carlsbad Unified School District is currently reviewing our state of preparedness at each site, and we are collaborating with the City of Carlsbad, the Carlsbad Police Department, the Carlsbad Fire Department, and the San Diego County Office of Education.

As a district, we have a number of programs in place to help minimize threats on our campuses. A few examples include:

• Comprehensive School Safety Plans: As an Education Code requirement under 32280-32289, these plans are approved annually for all sites. All Comprehensive School Safety Plans are reviewed by local law enforcement agencies. 
• Annual Tabletop Training Exercise with the City of Carlsbad’s Department of Emergency Preparedness: While trainings each year cover a variety of topics, the site and district administrator training held on February 15, 2018 (and scheduled prior to the tragedy in Florida) dealt specifically with active assailants on campus and reunification of students and families following an emergency event.
• Site-Based Trainings and Drills for Students and Staff: each school site practices safety drills annually. As drills and training have proven to save lives, we are currently reviewing our policies and procedures and expect to implement additional trainings and drills in the future.
• WeTip Anonymous Crime Reporting Hotline: If any community member wishes to submit an anonymous report, we use the WeTip Hotline online at https://wetip.com/ or on the phone at 1-80-78-CRIME.

Safety is always a top priority at Carlsbad Unified School District. As always, please remind students: if you see something, say something.

If you or your student has any concerns or questions about their safety on campus, please contact your site administrator immediately.


Sincerely,

Dr. Ben Churchill

Superintendent


Additional resources:

• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network: “Talking to Kids about the Shooting”
• The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at the University of Southern California: “Talking to Kids about Tragedies (Such as Shootings and Terror Attacks) in the News”
• The American Psychological Association: “Talking to Kids about School Shootings”