Student Safety and Parent Notification

The safety and security of the San Francisco Unified School District’s students and staff is of utmost importance. SFUSD has a comprehensive crisis plan and district administrators coordinate closely with city emergency management officials and law enforcement representatives to monitor and update plans on a regular basis.

In addition, schools have security measures to ensure the well being of students and staff. These include: visitor check-in procedures, locked doors after the start of the school day, surveillance cameras, and school resource officer support for many sites.

To ensure that you receive the most accurate account of the emergency situation, keep your contact information up to date with schools on your child’s emergency card. We urge parents and guardians to opt into SFUSD's text messaging service SchoolMessenger so we can notify you of emergency situations. Learn how to opt in for text messaging.

The means and immediacy of communication will depend on the scope of the event and on the potential or actual impact to the safety of the students. While it’s difficult to describe all possible scenarios, the following can be used a guide to gauge the district’s level of notification and systems used to communicate with families. Not every incident will warrant a notification response. Every situation must be assessed based on multiple factors. SFUSD reserves judgement in each case.

Low-Impact Incident

Poses no or minimal risk to the safety of the school. There are no disruptions to regular school activities, and the incident is an isolated one that does not impact more than one student.

Example: A small disturbance or fight

Notification Response: Parents of involved student(s) will be contacted

Moderate-Impact Incident

Poses a moderate risk to the school. Results in some disruption to school activities such as a change of schedule or cancellation of some activities.

Example: Police activity in the neighborhood results in students being brought inside during their lunch

Notification Response: Send message by the end of the school day via email, phone call or website posting

High-Impact Incident

The incident poses a significant risk to the safety of the students, which results in a significant disruption to school activities, change of schedule, evacuation, cancellation of activities, and impacts many students.

Example: A gas leak that requires a school evacuation and closure

Notification Response:

• Send messages as soon as possible via text message, email, phone call, or website posting
• If a matter of public concern, SFUSD may also provide social media updates and/or a press release