School Safety
Keeping Schools Safe
We believe that safe schools start with a positive school climate and personal relationships with all of our students. That is why we focus on a proactive approach. Our staff members greet and welcome students each morning as they arrive at school, reach out to any students who may need additional support and provide regular social-emotional lessons in their classrooms.
We also have many everyday safety and security measures in place, including but not limited to, the following:
- Building doors are locked during the school day. Visitors must enter at a central location at each building before being granted access to the hallways. All entrances have been reconfigured to enhance safety as part of the capital facilities improvement project.
- We require staff to wear an identification badge at all times. Upon visitors entering the building, they must show identification and receive a visitor badge that must be worn while on school grounds.
- Staff monitor visitors when they are in our buildings and are instructed that, in the event they observe suspicious activity, they are to question the individual or notify building administrators.
- Security cameras are installed in all RPS schools with specific software to monitor hallways and common areas in buildings.
- Students and staff participate regularly in a variety of emergency drills, which provide us all with an understanding of responses to various situations. These drills include both evacuation and lockdown/shelter-in-place drills.
While there is no single safety measure that will catch everything, we believe that a comprehensive approach that includes personal relationships and building security is essential to ensuring a safe and positive school environment.
Student and staff safety is critical. In addition to the details mentioned above, please alert us to any concerns that arise by reporting them immediately to a school district official or to our colleagues at the Richfield Police Department. If you see or suspect something, say something.
Practicing School Safety
When events occur that require students to either relocate or stay in classrooms, we use a standard set of responses which we practice with students and staff several times each year. Participating in these drills helps to ensure everyone knows what to do and where to go in the event of an actual emergency.
- Fire Drills (Evacuation)
- Used when conditions are safer outside the building than inside the building. This may include smoke or fire, flooding, hazardous materials, etc.
- Fire drills are scheduled five times each year at all schools and the district office.
- Tornado Drills
- Used when severe weather or tornados are in the area. Everyone seeks shelter in designated areas within our school buildings.
- Tornado drills are practiced once each year, usually in the early spring.
- Lockdown Drills
- Hold-in-Place: Used to keep hallways clear when an incident takes place inside the building or in the neighborhood. This may also be used when people need to be kept away from areas, such as a medical emergency where students in the halls might interfere with emergency responders. Everyone stays in their current locations (if students are outside, everyone comes inside) and learning continues as normal.
- Lockdown: Used only when there is an active threat and imminent danger toward people in the building and it is not safe to evacuate.
- These drills are practiced several times each year, sometimes just with staff.
School Emergency Information for Families
In the unlikely event of a school crisis, please keep the following things in mind.
- Students are our top priority. Trust that we are first doing what is needed to protect your child. Only after the immediate danger has passed will we communicate with available information.
- Stay connected. Trust information from our ParentSquare alerts, the district website or official social media channels from Richfield Public Schools or the Richfield Police Department. Avoid rumors or gossip.
- Try to avoid calling or texting your child. The distraction of a cell phone during an emergency may put them in danger. Students need to be paying attention to instructions from staff and emergency responders.
- Do not try to pick up your child from school. We understand the natural instinct to rush to your child. However, it is critical that we keep roads and buildings clear for emergency personnel. As soon as it is safe to do so, and under the guidance of emergency responders, we will evacuate students to a secure location and begin the family reunification process. This may be at a location other than your child's school.
How You Can Help
- If you see something, say something. School safety is a group effort. If you see or hear something concerning, please notify school staff right away. “Better safe than sorry” is a good adage for potential safety concerns.
- Keep lookalike weapons at home. This may include water guns, paintball guns, fake knives or swords used for Halloween costumes, etc. If you have items in your home that look like real weapons, please ensure they are kept in a safe place where younger children do not have access to them.
- Be an active member of your school and neighborhood community. When we get to know our classmates and neighbors, it helps everyone feel safer and allows us to more easily identify when something is amiss.