Family Spotlight

School safety was thrust into the spotlight last week when one of our students showed up to school with a loaded gun. We all shudder at how that might have ended, and we’re grateful for an outcome with no violence.

The safety of students and staff is always on our front burner. It has to be. We operate each school day with 17,000 students and over 2,000 employees across three dozen locations. Ensuring the safety of our people is foremost in our minds and actions.

Everywhere you look, you will see the importance we place on safe learning spaces and workplaces. It’s present on school buses, in secure school entrances, in classrooms, and on the iPads students use. It’s found in how we plan, develop policy, allocate funds, and focus on training. We practice emergency responses with staff and students, work alongside our School Resource Officers, and team up with community partners to ensure the wellbeing of everyone we serve.

Safety never takes a rest. Just about every week our systems and practices are tested. We encounter pressure points and find potential vulnerabilities, then reinforce our safeguards. Through technology, innovation and common sense, we endeavor to improve every day. So much of this happens behind the scenes, it may leave you wondering just what we are doing to make our schools as safe as we can.

This edition of Family Spotlight will shed light on some of our ongoing safety practices, from updating equipment to training exercises to programs that support students in crisis. We want you to know how we are working constantly to elevate our safety systems in Bend-La Pine Schools. There are other details we won’t share, and that’s also in support of student safety. Laws protecting student confidentiality and proprietary safety systems are a couple of reasons we are cautious about the information we release.

I encourage you to spend time with this newsletter to learn about our comprehensive approach to safety, security and emergency management. A critical component of having safe schools in our district rests with you, our families. We need your help and cooperation. We are stronger and safer when we look out for each other and speak up when something doesn’t seem right. These are conversations you can have with your students as well, to help them understand they play a vital role in making school safe and welcoming for all.

Please let us know if you have questions or concerns.

In partnership,

Dr. Steven Cook

Superintendent, Bend-La Pine Schools

If you are a firearms owner, have you taken steps to secure your firearms to prevent children or others from accessing them? Secure gun storage helps prevent suicide and accidental death and injuries.

More than 4 of every 10 parents of children under the age of 18 have a gun in their household, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among those parents, one-third say their guns are stored in an unlocked location and one-third say they store their firearms loaded. Sixty-one percent say they store their guns in the same location as ammunition.

There are many ways to increase safety in our homes and community with simple options such as inexpensive cable locks that work on most firearms. Take a few minutes to learn more from the Central Oregon Secure Firearm Storage project. Click here to learn more.

The Bend Police Department and Deschutes County Sheriff's Office have a supply of cable locks for use in securing firearms. If you’d like one, call or stop by their offices.

Community vigilance and collaboration is one of the best ways to prevent incidents in our schools and to help students who are struggling. Bend-La Pine Schools encourages students, families and community members to feel comfortable sharing if they are informed of or witness unsafe or unhealthy behaviors. If you are told something by a student, observe abnormal behaviors, or see alarming social media posts, please say something.

SafeOregon is a reporting tool that can be used by anyone via phone call or website form to report a student safety concern. Examples of these student safety concerns could include: vandalism, cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, insufficient food or safety concerns at home, or anything that poses a risk to the safety of a student(s) or school facility. Reporters can share their information or remain anonymous.

Bend-La Pine Schools’ staff uses this reported information to coordinate with our law enforcement partners to keep the school community safe. If there is ever information needing to be shared with our students, families, and partners, we will send messages via BLConnect. We all play a role in keeping our community safe.

Bend-La Pine Schools has added another School Resource Officer (SRO) to our program this year. Our newest SRO is Officer James Ragland.

The district has partnered with Bend Police Department and Deschutes County Sheriff's Office to embed a team of eight officers and deputies in our school communities. Our SROs work to build positive relationships with students, staff and families and enhance school safety. Officers and deputies can be seen outside of schools greeting students in the morning, supporting after-school events, and providing a strong presence in schools every day.

The SRO position is a special assignment with a collaborative selection process between the law enforcement agencies and Bend-La Pine Schools. The officers and deputies selected protect our schools and educate, mentor and counsel students. The team attends a wide variety of ongoing training related to student safety and mental wellbeing. Our SROs support schools with training, investigation of school threats, help resolving criminal incidents, and educating students on safety.

We encourage open dialogue between families and SROs who have safety concerns or are looking for information on our district safety measures. The partnership is vital to the safety of our schools.

Bend-La Pine Schools is investing millions of dollars from the 2022 voter-approved bond measure to improve safety features in our schools. This work is continuing year-round and includes new fire alarm systems being installed in 18 schools this year and next.

Another major project touching nearly every school in the district involves installation of new door locks for learning spaces. This improves school safety with up-to-date, easy-to-use locks for an estimated 3,200 doorways.

Our older door locks are not suited to our current safety practices. Most doors can only be locked using a key, and many of these lock from the hallway side of the door, meaning a staff member needs to open the door, use a key to lock it, and close the door again. That’s cumbersome and time-consuming in an emergency.

Our new door locks are fast and easy to use: Just turn the switch from inside the classroom. No need to find a key or open the door. And once locked, it’s easy to see it’s locked from across the room. Also, if someone exits the room, the door remains locked when closed again.

All middle and high school students in our District have the First Step app on their school-issued iPads. This is a tool for students who need help for themselves or a friend. It includes mental health resources, the SafeOregon tipline, and the 9-8-8 suicide and crisis lifeline. Students using First Step can access YouthLine, a peer-to-peer youth crisis and support line that’s free and available 24 hours a day.

All families in our District are welcome to use CareSolace, a free service offering referrals for behavioral health care. CareSolace supports the well-being of students, staff, and their family members. This complimentary and confidential care coordination service can help you quickly find mental health or substance use treatment options matched to your needs regardless of circumstance. If you would like to use Care Solace to help you find a provider:

• Call 888-515-0595 (available around the clock in any language).

• Visit Care Solace and either search on your own OR click “Book Appointment” for assistance by video chat, email, or phone.

Threats to school safety can vary widely to include fires, earthquakes, nearby police activity, gas leaks, or even a wild animal roaming campus. Instead of having complicated responses that vary for incident type, our district follows the Standard Response Protocol from the "I Love U Guys" Foundation.

The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is a data-driven approach to incident response that uses five actions for schools to take: hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate, and shelter. If staff or students observe something concerning, school employees are empowered to take initiative and respond individually in implementing SRP procedures based on the information they have at the moment. Information may change, and therefore, the SRP actions might change.

Volunteering for your child’s class can make a positive impact on their school experience.

Volunteer roles vary based on the needs of each school, and there must be a specific assignment. Volunteers are most often needed for special events in and out of the classroom. The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is a top priority. To ensure a safe environment, all volunteers are required to complete an online application and volunteer background check. If you are interested in volunteering, learn more at bls.fyi/volunteer.

If you plan on visiting your child's school, don't forget your government-issued photo ID. You may be visiting for a concert, to enjoy lunch with your student, or to participate in an IEP meeting. Whatever the reason, safety procedures remain in place to keep our school community safe. All visitors must sign in at school during regular business hours using our Raptor kiosk, the digital sign-in roster. It is critical to know who is in our schools at all times, and no exceptions can be made in this process. Thank you for helping keep our school communities safe!

Stay in the loop regarding all important information. Sign up for BLConnect, an emergency alert text messaging system. Register at bls.fyi/blconnect.

Signing up for the text message alerts through BLConnect allows families to hear news and updates directly from Bend-La Pine Schools, rather than from an alternate source. The text message alerts in English or Spanish allow families to receive timely updates about school closures, lockdowns, or weather events.

Listen to the podcast today:

• Online – bls.fyi/podcast
  
• Apple Podcasts – bls.fyi/listenonapple
  
• Spotify – bls.fyi/listenonspotify
  

November is Native American Heritage Month

November 1-2: Dia de los Muertos

November 11-15: National School Psychology Week

November 11: Veterans Day

November 14: Ruby Bridges Day

November 28: Thanksgiving

The Board of Directors for Bend-La Pine Schools will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, November 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 520 NW Wall Street in Bend.

For information about board members, meetings and agendas, please visit our School Board page.

Catch up on all the news from the latest School Board meeting on October 8. Click here for Dr. Cook's recap.

Are you curious which district policies and regulations are currently under review? To see proposed changes and give feedback on new language, click here.