School Safety

Have a plan. Create a family emergency plan, and talk to your children about what your family would do in the event of an
emergency at school or in the community. California’s Emergency Management Agency has lots of information on how to create a Family Emergency Plan at www.calema.ca.gov (search for Family Disaster Plan).

A lockdown is called when an immediate, serious threat is present against students or staff of a school. This may include the sighting of someone with a weapon on campus, a threat made against students or staff members, or other imminently dangerous situations that threaten campus safety.

During a lockdown, no one is allowed to leave the facility. Students will be immediately gathered from hallways, restrooms and common areas and moved indoors. Doors will be locked and students will not be allowed to leave with a parent or guardian. All students will be accounted for by staff. Students on buses at the time a lockdown is called at their school would be held on the bus or rerouted to another location and parents informed. Any parents or visitors present when a lockdown is called will be directed to a room separate from the school’s emergency response center until the conclusion of the lockdown. School administrators will consult with local and district law enforcement to determine when it is safe to end the lockdown event.

Q. How do I know if a school is in lockdown?
A. The main entrance doors will be locked, and whenever possible, sign posted in the window. Clovis Unified’s emergency phone notification system will be used to alert parents to the school’s lockdown status.

A. Parents should:

A shelter in place is called when school officials are made aware of a potentially hazardous situation that may reach a district facility. If a shelter in place is called, a school site is on heightened alert and doors locked. Students are not allowed to leave, and instruction continues. Students will be called indoors and accounted for, and movement around campus will be limited. Parents and other school visitors on campus when a shelter in place is called are free to leave the facility. A state of shelter in place allows school personnel to be prepared to quickly move to a state of lockdown should the possibility of a threat escalate.

Q. What is the difference between a lockdown and a shelter in place?
A. In a lockdown situation, all classroom activity stops, and staff and students shelter out of sight. In a shelter in place, teachers continue classroom activities, but students remain indoors, movement around a campus is limited and supervised by adults.

A campus evacuation may be called when school administrators determine that student safety may be jeopardized by staying indoors. This could occur as the result of a possible fire, a bomb threat or a gas leak. In the event of a bomb threat, an evacuation decision is dependent on information received in the threat and factors influencing the credibility of the report. Each school has procedures in place for partial or complete evacuation, including multiple on- and off-site locations. If necessary, plans are in place to provide transportation for students to alternate locations. Parents would be notified quickly should such an off-site evacuation occur. These notifications would include additional information about where to pick up your child. In the event of an evacuation that requires parent/guardian pickup, parents will be required to sign out their child. Students will be released only to an adult with proper identification who is on file with the school as an authorized emergency contact.

Drop, Cover & Hold is called in the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster necessitating shelter be taken. Students and staff will quickly drop and move under a desk or sturdy table and/or cover their head and neck with their arms to protect themselves from possible falling objects, and they will hold in that position until the event subsides.

Safety procedures at Clovis Unified schools extend to plans for loss of power. In most circumstances, a power outage of up to four hours can be accommodated and classroom instruction will continue. Classrooms without adequate natural lighting would be relocated to accommodate the continuation of lessons, and lunchroom service would still be provided utilizing Clovis Unified’s alternate meals stocked specifically for possible emergencies. The district maintains a supply of emergency mobile phones, which can be distributed to a school site in the event that a power outage affects telephone and Internet service. Clovis Unified’s automated phone, text and email notification can be accessed anywhere to keep parents informed during a power outage or other school emergency.