School and Student Safety
At Selma Unified School District, school and student safety is our top priority. We understand that parents and staff expect a secure environment for their children and themselves. That's why we are committed to providing a safe learning and working environment for all. Each school in the district prepares and updates a comprehensive safety plan annually with input from staff, students, and parents. Additionally, every school conducts regular fire, earthquake, and lock-down drills to ensure preparedness. If you have any safety concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
School Safety Plan
Each school is required to prepare a Safe School Plan and submit the plan for approval by March 1st of each school year. The plan must be developed in cooperation with school staff (certificated and classified), parents, students, community members, and law enforcement.
School Safety Plans use a color-coded system to identify the level of threat and appropriate response by school staff. Dependent upon the circumstances, one of four codes will be called in the event of an emergency at a school site:
- Code Blue (Lock Down)
- Code Yellow (School/Facility Alert)
- Code Green (Evacuation)
- Code Black (Energy Blackout)
Code Blue (Lock Down)
If an emergency situation occurring in the vicinity of a school threatens student safety, the school may be placed under "lockdown." During a lockdown, a school will take several security measures:
- All school doors and windows are locked.
- All students and staff remain in their classrooms or offices.
- No one is permitted to leave and no one, including parents, is allowed on campus.
Although such measures may seem extreme, they have proven effective in ensuring student safety. In fact, in an emergency, school is one of the safest places your child can be. Whenever a threat arises, schools are the focus of heightened attention from School Police and local authorities.
Should a lockdown occur, parents are asked to remain calm while school and local authorities manage the situation. Parents should not come to the campus until notified by the school to do so. Parents cannot pick up their child during a lockdown nor come on campus. If it appears the lockdown will last for an extended period of time, or go beyond dismissal time, school staff will notify parents by phone or email. Students will not be allowed to leave until recommended by the appropriate authorities.
Parents may be required to pick children up from school or another designated safe area, once it is determined that it is safe to do so. To further ensure student safety, parents may be required to present identification. The reunification location will be given to parents over the phone if possible, and will be publicized to the media. School officials will also work with the district's transportation department regarding bus transport.
Code Yellow (School/Facility Alert)
If a situation is occurring in the vicinity of a school that may be at risk of threatening student safety, the school may be placed under a Code Yellow - Facility Alert. During a Facility Alert, a school will take several security measures:
- As a precaution, all school doors and windows are locked until the Facility Alert is ended.
- All students will remain in their classrooms, library or the office.
- Instruction will continue.
- No one is permitted to leave the classroom.
Code Green (Evacuation)
Students will remain in the classroom until it is safe to leave the building. Staff and students will follow guidelines for classroom evacuation.
Parents may be required to pick children up from school or another designated safe area, once it is determined that it is safe to do so. To further ensure student safety, parents may be required to present identification. The reunification location will be given to parents over the phone if possible, and will be publicized to the media. School officials will also work with the district's transportation department regarding bus transport.
Code Black (Energy Blackout)
Preventing Bullying In Our Schools
Stop, Walk, and Talk encourages students to take action if they witness or experience bullying. The policy emphasizes these simple steps:
· Avoid the bully and places the bully may hang out at school.
· If a friend is being bullied, get help from an adult.
· Don’t bully back. Fighting will only escalate the situation and may get you in trouble.
· Remain calm when interacting with a bully.
· Ignore social media bullies. Do not reply to the bully on social media apps.
· If cyberbullying is happening, have parents block the bully from your phone.
· If the bully makes threats away from school or at home, contact the police.
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Bullying/Cyberbullying Definitions
Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived imbalance of power between individuals with the intent to cause emotional or physical harm. Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social/relational and involves repetition or potential repetition of a deliberate act.
Cyberbullying includes the electronic creation or transmission of harassing communications, direct threats, or other harmful texts, sounds, or images. Cyberbullying also includes breaking into another person's electronic account or assuming that person's online identity in order to damage that person's reputation.
Examples of the types of conduct that may constitute bullying and are prohibited by the district include, but are not limited to:
- Physical bullying that inflicts harm upon a person's body or possessions, such as hitting, kicking, pinching, spitting, tripping, pushing, taking or breaking someone's possessions, or making cruel or rude hand gestures.
- Verbal bullying that includes saying or writing hurtful things, such as teasing, name-calling, inappropriate sexual comments, taunting, or threats to cause harm.
- Social/relational bullying that harms a person's reputation or relationships, such as leaving a person out of an activity on purpose, influencing others not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors, or embarrassing someone in public.
- Cyberbullying, such as sending demeaning or hateful text messages or emails, sending rumors by email or by posting on social networking sites, or posting embarrassing photos, videos, web site, or fake profiles.
How To Report Bullying
Bullying/cyberbullying can be reported directly to a teacher, principal or any available school employee. Students who feel unsafe or know someone who feels unsafe may also use the Sprigeo app to make a report online. School Administration is immediately notified and will follow-up with the person making the report if they have identified themselves.
When a report of bullying is submitted, the principal or a district compliance officer shall inform the student or parent/guardian of the right to file a formal written complaint in accordance with AR 1312.3 - Uniform Complaint Procedures. The student who is the alleged victim of the bullying shall be given an opportunity to describe the incident, identify witnesses who may have relevant information, and provide other evidence of bullying.
Within one business day of receiving such a report, a staff member shall notify the principal of the report, whether or not a uniform complaint is filed. In addition, any school employee who observes an incident of bullying involving a student shall, within one business day, report such observation to the principal or a district compliance officer, whether or not the alleged victim files a complaint.
Within two business days of receiving a report of bullying, the principal shall notify the district compliance officer identified in AR 1312.3.
When the circumstances involve cyberbullying, individuals with information about the activity shall be encouraged to save and print any electronic or digital messages that they feel constitute cyberbullying and to notify a teacher, the principal, or other employee so that the matter may be investigated. When a student uses a social networking site or service to bully or harass another student, the Superintendent or designee may file a request with the networking site or service to suspend the privileges of the student and to have the material removed.
Getting To And From School Safely
To ensure maximum safety for all students, Selma Unified encourages students and parents to abide
by the following guidelines set by the National Safe Kids Campaign.
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Walking to School
Pedestrian injuries are the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths among children ages 5-14. To avoid injury:
- Never let children under age 10 cross the street alone.
- Teach children to recognize and obey traffic signals and pavement markings.
- Choose the safest route between home and school and practice walking it with children until they can demonstrate traffic safety awareness.
Remind children to:
- Cross streets only in crosswalks; never enter streets from between parked cars or from behind shrubbery.
- Always look both ways before crossing the street.
- Walk—don't run—across intersections.
- A flashing "walk" signal does not mean it's safe to cross.
- Use the same route every day and avoid shortcuts.
- Don't speak to strangers; if a stranger approaches, tell a trusted adult such as a parent or teacher.
Riding the Bus
Approximately 800 students ride the bus each day. Although bus travel is one of the safest ways to get to and from school, injuries can still occur, and most of them take place when children are getting on or off the bus.
Safety tips for riding the bus:
- Arrive at the bus stop at least 10 minutes before the scheduled arrival of the bus.
- Stay out of the street while waiting.
- Wait for the bus to come to a complete stop before getting on or off.
- Remain seated and keep head and arms inside the bus at all times.
- Do not shout or distract the bus driver.
- Do not walk in the driver's "blind spot" - the area from the front of the bus to about 12 feet in front of the bus.
Riding Bicycles
Bicycles are associated with more childhood injuries than any other form of transportation except the car. To make sure children are safe when riding bicycles to school:
- Check with your school principal to make sure bicycles are allowed. Some schools do not allow them.
- Wear a helmet! State law requires it, and failure to wear one could result in a traffic citation. More importantly, helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent.
- Obey rules of the road; the rules are the same for all vehicles, including bicycles.
- Stay on the right-hand side of the road and ride in the same direction as traffic.
- Know and use appropriate hand signals.
- Choose the safest route between home and school and practice it with children until they can demonstrate traffic safety awareness.
Driving
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths among children age 14 and under. To reduce the risk of injury:
- Always use child safety seats and safety belts correctly when driving or riding in a car.
- Arrive early—especially the first few weeks of school—and use the school's designated student drop-off and pick-up zone.
- Do not double park or make U-turns in front of the school. Police officers may issue citations for traffic violations.
- Children should enter and leave the car on its curb side.