Safety & Security
The Council Bluffs Community School District wants parents and guardians to know about the school district’s work to prevent, respond to, and communicate in emergency situations within our schools.
Standard Response Protocol
The school district is pleased to partner with the iloveyouguys foundation, the Council Bluffs Police Department, other local law enforcement and emergency responders in a Standard Response Protocol. Whether there is threat of severe weather, a fire, or another threat to safety in our schools, we are taking specific action to protect students, staff and visitors.
Click here to review the Standard Response Protocol Handout.
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The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is a widely-used protocol that focuses on practicing simple and specific responses to emergency situations. Staff members at all of our school buildings have been trained in emergency response and hold regular drills with students. We also take precautionary measures to secure our buildings, including security cameras, secured doors at elementary and middle schools, one-entrance access to high schools, school resource officers at middle and high schools, and visitor sign in requirements.
Emergency Communications
We make it a priority to communicate with parents/guardians as soon as practical when there is a safety concern at the school. This will occur once measures have been taken to respond to the emergency to help ensure the safety of students, staff and visitors, and when accurate information is confirmed. We realize that students often text or call parents when the school implements a safety protocol. Please know that we do our best to communicate specifics with students in a timely manner. However, your child may not have all of the information and may unknowingly share incomplete or inaccurate information with you.
The FinalSite automated calling and email system is the primary way we communicate during an emergency. Please make sure you update your phone number and email address if there are changes and ensure you do not block the school district’s calls. Also, please make sure to listen to the message in full, and press the * key if you want to re-play the message. In addition, you are encouraged to please download the free school district mobile app (Council Bluffs Comm Schools) so that you can receive emergency alerts on your phone or tablet. The social media sites of Facebook and Twitter may be used to update parents in addition to School Messenger.
During a school emergency, we ask that parents do not come to or call the school, or approve your child to leave school grounds. It is important to keep the streets and parking area near the school, and phone lines open for emergency responders and communication. We need to be able to effectively account for all students and staff following an incident.
Parent Resources
What should I do as a parent before a crisis or emergency at the school?
Make a Plan – Talk to your children about school safety. Review as a family how you will communicate, where you will go and safety steps during an emergency. Here is a helpful resource from FEMA. Click Here for Make a Plan website.
Ensure Contact Information is up to date – Let the school know if you have changed phone numbers or email addresses.
Know the Ways your school and District Communicate with You
What should I do as a parent during a crisis or emergency at the school?
Stay Home – Parents are advised not to come to the school. By arriving at the school you may be endangering yourself or your child. School district personnel and First Responders will be working hard to control the situation and protect your children. Law Enforcement will be focused on the important task of keeping your child safe.
Stay informed – School district personnel will provide information as soon as possible. Some situations take time to verify accurate information. School district personnel will be in communication throughout the situation and will communicate in several different ways: District auto dialer, text message, email, district web site, or local news media. Please do not call the school as you most likely will not get an answer or you could be pulling staff away from the emergency situation.
Be ready – In case a reunification is necessary, you’ll be informed of when and where to pick up your child. Please bring a photo ID and be patient in the process of connecting you with your child. The process takes time and it’s important to stay calm. The reunification process protects both the safety of students and provides for an accountable exchange of custody from the school to a recognized parent or guardian.
Hold off on calling or texting your student – Parents will be notified with updates on the situation in a timely manner. When it’s safe to do so, students will be allowed to text their parent(s) during a crisis, if applicable. You should NOT call or text a student’s cell phone during a crisis unless you’ve heard from them first and you know it’s safe to text back. You may be placing your child at risk. Students are trained to stay out of site and quiet during a Lockdown. A phone ringing or vibrating could alert an intruder to the student’s location.
How to talk with your child after a crisis
Many parents wonder what to say to a child after a crisis situation. Whether students were involved or bystanders, it’s extremely helpful to talk with your child about their experience. Here are some helpful resources:
“The Role for Caring Adults after a School or Community Tragedy” – courtesy of the Colorado School Safety Resource Center.
“What to Say and What Not To Say” – courtesy of the Coalition to Support Grieving Students.
Reunification Following an Emergency Event
Council Bluffs Community School District has adopted the Standard Reunification Method (SRM) as developed by the iloveuguys.org foundation. The Green Hills Area Education Agency, in cooperation with community agencies, has developed and trained a reunification team. This team would work with your child’s school if children need to be reunified with their parents/guardians at a different time and/or a different location following an emergency event. If reunification is needed, you will be informed of when and where to pick up your child. Please bring a photo ID and be patient in the process of reconnecting you with your child. The process takes time and it’s important to stay calm. The reunification process protects both the safety of students and provides for an accountable exchange of custody from the school to a recognized parent or guardian.