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Communication Protocols

Click here to view the Who Should I Call Document

Click here to view the Internal Communication Protocols - English

Click here to view the Internal Communication Protocols - Spanish

District Wide Emergency

The District Office will handle any messaging if there is a District Wide Emergency. Generally, the District Office will also handle any messaging if there is any building that is in Lockdown or Evacuated, as the building administrator may not be able to do so. The authority to create and send district wide messages is limited to a handful of employees with unique usernames and passwords.

The message in Blackboard ConnectEd will be sent in “Emergency” mode so that all contacts for each child and adult are utilized. During any emergency notification, all media will be utilized (text, phone, email). In addition, the message will be sent to all families and in both English and Spanish (depending on the home language indicated in eSchoolPLUS).

Examples of District Wide Emergency messages may include but are not limited to: District Closings, Delays, Early Dismissals, or the Initiation of a Remote Learning Day; Safety Alerts; Notifications of Lockdowns, Bomb Threats, Evacuations, or Reunifications; and other Notifications of a District Wide nature.

District Wide Non-Emergency (Outreach)

If the District will be sending out a non-emergency message to the community, such as an outreach or notification message, it must be authorized by the Superintendent or designee before being sent. The authority to create and send district wide messages is limited to a handful of employees with unique usernames and passwords.

Best Practices:

  • The message in Blackboard ConnectEd should be sent in Emergency mode if the message needs to reach recipients in an urgent manner (see District Wide Emergency messaging). Outreach messages are for messages of a non-urgent nature.
  • The message should be sent to all families and in both English and Spanish (depending on the home language indicated in eSchoolPLUS).
  • All media should be utilized (text, phone, email) so that recipients get the message in multiple ways and whether their home language is English or Spanish.
  • Generally, only two messages should be sent for non-emergency (outreach) calls per event, one about a week before the event and one a day prior to the event. The district seeks to limit the number of outreach messages to two per event unless permission for more is granted by the Superintendent or her/his designee.
  • To the extent possible, messages should be 90 seconds or shorter.

Building Level Emergency

If a school building is dealing with a Lockout, Shelter in Place, Hold in Place, or non-imminent threat, the Building Administrator or designee should send an initial templated message (see above examples to personalize to building and circumstances). (In the event that the administrator is unable to send a message, they should contact the District Office and communications should take place as above).

Note: During any emergency notification, all media should be utilized (text, phone, email) by including the text of the recorded phone call in the tab/field for emails (up to 30,000 characters permitted) and in the tab/field for (SMS) text messages (up to 300 characters permitted). A message describing the protocol that was initiated should be sent immediately and follow-up communications can then take place describing the (non-confidential) details of the incident. In addition, the message should be sent to all families in the school and in both English and Spanish (depending on the home language indicated in eSchoolPLUS).

Building Level Non-Emergency (Outreach)

If a school building would like to send out a non-emergency message to the community, it must be authorized by the school building principal or designee before being sent.

Best Practices:

  • The message in Blackboard ConnectEd should be sent in Emergency mode if the message needs to reach recipients in an urgent manner (see above).
  • The message should be sent to all families and in both English and Spanish (depending on the home language indicated in eSchoolPLUS).
  • All media should be utilized (text, phone, email) so that recipients get the message in multiple ways. Do this by including the text of the recorded phone call in the tab/field for emails (up to 30,000 characters permitted) and in the tab/field for (SMS) text messages (up to 300 characters permitted). Do this in both English and Spanish.
  • Only two messages should be sent for non-emergency (outreach) calls per event, one about a week before the event and one a day prior to the event. Please limit the number of outreach messages to two per event unless permission for more is granted by the Superintendent or her/his