Safety
GET INVOLVED
The Safety Committee has offically lauched the P.O.D. Patrol (Parents on Demand) If you are interested in volunteering, please email Juliet Ekinaka at jdubdesign@gmail.com
P.O.D. PATROL (Parents on Demand)
Join the Marblehead POD Parent Patrol to:
1. Provide extra eyes and ears on campus to enhance school security and reduce bullying.
2. Be a positive role model for the students, demonstrating by their presence that education is important.
3. Be a FINTASTIC part of our school community on a schedule that works for you!
A typical shift is one hour, but any amount of time is appreciated based on your schedule! You will check in with office staff, walk the school's perimeter, engage with students in classrooms or recess, and walk the perimeter one last time before you check out.
Parent patrol programs like this have been successfully implemented in multiple public schools in San Clemente. Some schools started the program in response to an incident, but this is not the case at Marblehead. We want to be proactive and build on the success of our neighboring school's programs to prevent security issues and build a community of trusted adults for our students!
CUSD SAFETY INFORMATION
Every school site in our District has a safety plan that is specific to each campus and is reviewed annually. CUSD works directly with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in planning and security assessments of our schools. Whenever there is a threat, or even a perceived threat, the Sheriff’s Department’s School Mobile Assessment and Resource Team (SMART) performs an investigation. SMART is used in school situations or incidents related to violence, threats, possession and/or use of weapons, unstable behaviors and suicidal actions or tendencies.
CUSD, through the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, works with the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center (OCIAC), an integrated, multi-disciplined information and intelligence sharing network that collects, analyzes, and disseminates information on all criminal risks and safety threats to law enforcement, fire, health, private sector and public sector stakeholders in order to protect the residents, visitors, and critical infrastructure.
We also conduct ongoing drills and simulated emergency exercises for our staff, and this training is reviewed and modified as needed. Lockdown drills are conducted twice per year at all CUSD schools.
MARBLEHEAD SAFETY PLAN
Every school in the District is required to have an updated Comprehensive Safety Plan. The Safety Plan documents the procedures that will take place in case of extreme emergencies, like catastrophic earthquakes, fires, and active shooters. It also includes protocols for extreme heat warnings, phone trees for staff contacts, how to address suspicious package deliveries, and bomb threats. The document is over 150 pages long and is available to the public to view.
Part of the Safety Plan includes the implementation and training of our staff and students. Our staff is trained thoroughly in the Fall of each school year on the Safety Plan during drills and staff meetings. Trainings include disasters and active shooter scenarios.
The staff and students participate in regular drills monthly. The drills required each year are:
Monthly Fire Drills - students and staff evacuate the building to a safe location and everyone is accounted for in a timely manner
2 Disaster Drills (including Earthquake duck and cover with evacuation)
2 Lockdown Drills where students and staff lock the doors and hide from a possible intruder until "all clear"
2 Shelter in Place Drills - this involves locking the doors and staying inside to protect from a potential danger outside, but continuing on "business as usual", no one is allowed outside until given the "all clear"
All drills are scheduled at the beginning of the school year, yet are sometimes rescheduled due to conflicts of events or other things that come up.
SUSPICIOUS PERSONS NEARBY
All Marblehead personnel have been trained and understand their role in keeping the school site safe from suspicious persons, including anyone they see lingering in the park and walking along the sidewalks. If they feel that the person is a threat to the students, which would include intoxication or under the influence, having a weapon, aggressive behavior, trying to engage the students in conversation, the staff is instructed to call 911 if there is immediate danger or notify the office to contact law enforcement. All classroom phones have the capability to make an all school announcement for a lockdown and call out to 911.
All parents and community members are also encouraged to call law enforcement if they feel there is a threatening individual or group of people by the school breaking the law.
WHAT TO DO IF SOMETHING HAPPENS AT MARBLEHEAD?
If for some reason there is a lockdown or disaster at Marblehead, PLEASE wait for information to come from the school or district for next steps. Rushing to the school causes chaos and misinformation to rapidly spread, which does not help in any situation. The best and most useful thing that you can do, is to wait for information from the school and the all clear to come pick up your child.
Why do you need to wait away from the school campus?
1. We need to keep all driveways, access roads, walkways, and doorways clear for law enforcement, fire services, and medical personnel to be able to access the school.
2. If we are looking for a suspicious person, having hundreds of family members on campus will make the situation more difficult and the person may escape the scene.
3. Swarms and mobs of upset people can cause bodily harm to each other and spread rumors that may escalate the situation. The authorities need to focus on the children and their safety, not the parents.
We know this will be hard to stay away, but please understand that every parent that comes onto campus will take away resources from the situation that is threatening the safety of the school.
The administration will communicate with families as soon as the situation is stable and they are able to communicate safely. A school's #1 priority is to always keep the students and staff safe.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NOT BLOCKED THE SCHOOL'S MESSAGES FROM YOUR EMAIL, PHONE, OR TEXTS!
WHO CAN I CALL IF...
Suspicious (Threatening) Person Around Campus