Safety & Security

The safety and security of students, staff and visitors in the Richardson Independent School District is paramount.

General Information

The safety and security of students, staff and visitors in the Richardson Independent School District is paramount. RISD strives to ensure a safe environment for employees to work and students to concentrate on learning, developing and achieving academic excellence.

RISD administrators are currently trained in National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) emergency management methodologies, the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), and The Standard Reunification Method (SRM). RISD utilizes these and other best practices to create and maintain a safe environment, including coordination with local, state and federal authorities and other safety specialists to continually update procedures and guidelines.

The district utilizes a model which includes four phases of emergency management: Mitigation/Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.

Mitigation / Prevention

Mitigation/Prevention efforts are ongoing and intended to:

Eliminate hazards and vulnerabilities
Reduce the probability of hazards and vulnerabilities causing an emergency situation; and/or
Lessen the consequences of unavoidable hazards and vulnerabilities.

Examples of these activities include:

Creating and maintaining a culture of mutual respect and understanding at each campus. The more a campus embraces such a culture, the more likely an intervention will prevent a situation from escalating to an emergency level
Daily check-in and monitoring of individuals entering and exiting campuses
Ensuring district safety and security policies reflect current best practices and trends
Providing violence prevention curriculum to all campuses
Conducting staff development training pertaining to safety
Conducting safety audits of district facilities
Identification of at risk-students by teacher referrals at the elementary level and by student or teacher referrals at the secondary level
Full-day presence of School Resource Officers at every secondary campus, and availability to elementary campuses
Assist school administrator with Student Threat Assessments, as needed
Crime Stoppers Program

Preparedness

Preparedness efforts are designed to facilitate a rapid, coordinated, and effective response to an emergency situation. This involves proper planning and effective execution when hazards cannot be mitigated or prevented.

Examples of these components include:

RISD (district-level) Emergency Management Plan
Campus Emergency Action Plan that addresses specific emergency situations and is designed to establish awareness and emphasize clear objectives in handling emergency situations
The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) (Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter, Hold and Reunification)
General emergency planning and training, including conducting emergency drills
Emergency resource planning;
Development of partnerships and coordination with local, state, and federal emergency agencies.

Additionally, emergency plans are regularly tested and modified as needed. Each campus will have a trained Campus Emergency Response Team with alternates. In the event of a major emergency, RISD has a District Emergency Response Team comprised of trained central administrators available to assist and support schools and facilities in response to emergency situations.

Response

Response efforts include the implementation of well-designed emergency preparedness plans. The goals of emergency response operations are to respond quickly, effectively and efficiently to any emergency situation with the immediate goal of minimizing injuries and property damage.

District emergency response activities may include:

Notification of all appropriate emergency responders
Activating an incident-management system
Communication with all appropriate central administrators
Engaging in light fire suppression (fire extinguisher)
Implementation of the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) (Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuation, Shelter and Hold)
Providing first aid
Performing light searches and rescues of students that have left the campus (with law enforcement involvement)
Reunification of students and parents (SRM)
Warning staff and students about possible hazardous emergency situations
Notification of parents and/or the community regarding situation or continued hazards, as appropriate, using various means of communications

Recovery

Recovery efforts will begin immediately after an emergency situation has stabilized, with the primary purpose involving assistance to students and staff. The goal of recovery efforts is to return the campus or facility to a safe and normal daily routine and restore order as quickly and safely as possible. The district will implement recovery efforts following an emergency that involve both short-term and long-term components.

These activities may include:

Conducting After-Action-Reviews with first responders and school staff
Use of best practice recommendations to revise plans and conduct additional training and drills as appropriate

RISD will allow adequate time for recovery; however, immediate plans will be produced to resume classroom learning as soon as possible and restore damaged campuses and facilities.