Safety Information for Parents
Nevada County school administrators and staff have worked diligently to focus on school safety and to reassure parents that plans are in place in the event of an incident, emergency, or disaster at their child’s school site or in the community. Collaboration between law enforcement, first responders, and the Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Office has improved familiarity with responding agencies, enhanced and updated Comprehensive School Safety Plans, and solidified effective and efficient drills for public, private and charter schools in our county.
Know Overdose Nevada County Campaign
Like many communities across the state and country, Nevada County has seen a rise in overdose deaths in the past few years. This has largely been a result of synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, entering the local drug supply. Know Overdose Nevada County is a local campaign to increase knowledge and awareness about drug overdose risks and harm reduction strategies to help prevent overdoses and overdose deaths. Learn more about the campaign and how to access key information and resources by reviewing the campaign one-pager or by visiting the campaign website at www.KnowOverdoseNC.com
Schools Protocol for a Covid-19 Free Environment
Please follow the schools protocol for a COVID free environment.
- Please complete the morning health check protocol with your child before entering the school premises.
- Maintain Social Distancing at all times.
- When in close proximity to other people, please wear a face covering.
- Wash hands regularly. Before and after every interaction.
Opiate Overdose Alert from the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
Recently the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office has received numerous reports of opiate overdoses. So far this year 20 of these reports have resulted in death. By comparison 6 deaths occurred by opiate overdose in all of 2019. After numerous thorough coroners’ investigations and reviewing toxicology reports, we have learned that several of these overdose deaths have been directly linked to fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is like morphine, but it is 50 to 100 times more potent. In some cases, pure powder fentanyl the size of a few grains of salt can be fatal. There have been numerous cases where law enforcement officers across the Country have unknowingly come into contact with the drug and overdosed themselves as it can be absorbed through the skin.
The Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit has been investigating the overdose cases and has learned that many of the fentanyl overdoses have been caused by the user ingesting counterfeit prescription pain pills laced with fentanyl. The pills are made to resemble true and legitimate pain medication such as Percocet or Dilaudid and the fake pills even have the same shape, color, impressions, and size. The users sometimes ingest the pill(s) not knowing that they are counterfeit and, in some cases, have inadvertently ingested a and a lethal dose of fentanyl causing death.
The forged pills are not constructed in a legal, permitted, or licensed laboratory; they are pressed using antiquated methods by either drug cartels or street criminals with generic binding agents and sometimes lethal doses of fentanyl.
Between June 2020 and August 2020, medical and law enforcement units responded to over thirty overdoses within Nevada County and administered over 75 doses of Naloxone (Narcan) to try and revive the victim. Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office wants to alert the public to the dangers surrounding taking pills that are not prescribed by a physician or obtained by anyone that is not a licensed pharmacist. Do not take any prescription pills unless they are prescribed to you and you obtained them from a licensed pharmacist through a valid prescription.
For more information visit the United States Drug Enforcement Administration at www.dea.gov
Cyber Safety
During these challenging times many of our students, staff and community at large are trying to navigate new ground. With an increase in screen time, cyber safety has become a new area of concern. It is important for families to have conversations regarding cyber safety and what to do if a student views disturbing content, The FBI Sacramento Field Office recently offered “Internet Crimes Against Children and Online Safety”, a virtual presentation for parents and students in middle school and high school who reside within our area.
For younger grades, the FBI offers FBI-SOS, a free, fun, and informative program that promotes cyber citizenship by educating students in third to eighth grades on the essentials of online security. You can access the FBI-SOS site and program information at: https://sos.fbi.gov/en/.
Talk to your student about safety:
It is important for parents to be well informed about the safety practices at their child’s school site. Conversations with your children following scheduled safety drills are essential to help families and students prepare for emergencies whether at school or some other venue. Understanding the expectation of safety protocols helps to reduce fear and build a trust for the systems in place. Open conversations between parents, teachers, support
staff and students build upon the processes and strengthen the response plan.
Be Alert: “If you see something, say something!”
Nevada County Superintendent of Schools “NCSOS” promotes this quote,
and encourages students, parents and staff to be proactive in reporting any concerns for safety to school administrators or appropriate first responders. Reports of concern should be made directly to Law Enforcement if there is potential for imminent danger or harm.
Communication During An Emergency
Administrators and first responders acknowledge the need for communication before, during, and after an event.
Information is disseminated when it is safe to do so and after it has been verified by responding agencies.
This week, the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services officially launched a new zone-based evacuation technology to complement the ongoing Ready Nevada County tools and strategy. It is important that you KNOW YOUR ZONE for your school site, home, or residence of a loved one. Please go to Zone Haven to search your school’s address and see what zone you are in. Record it, remember it, share it with your staff and encourage them to do the same for their home, work, or the residence of a loved one. In the event of a wildfire or other emergency situation, law enforcement and fire agencies will issue evacuation warnings or evacuation orders nothing the zone of the impacted area. Authorities will use zone names in CodeRED and Nixle Emergency Alerts, media releases, and social media to quickly notify residents which areas are affected.
In the event of an emergency at NCSOS our communication will be via phone call/text/email/social media. Please be sure the school has your current emergency contact information (i.e. phone number(s), cell phone, and/or email.
- Parents are encouraged to wait at home and anticipate updated information as it becomes available.
- Mass texts and phone calls to students personal cell phones may alert intruders – please refrain from doing so
- Mass texts and phone calls to students personal cell phones may tie up the system and prevent safe and effective response – please refrain from doing so
- Family members proceeding to the school site may block roads and prevent First Responders access – please do not report to the school site unless advised to do so
- Unverified social media texts may cause confusion and misinformation; please use discretion when using social media
Drills
In compliance with California Education Code, NCSOS will hold required drills at NCSOS school sites throughout the school year. Some drills may be unannounced to provide an opportunity to review effectiveness and response of staff and students in a simulated event. Some drills may include oversight from law enforcement and/or fire services. Please have conversations with your students following drills to reinforce the safety protocols in place.
If there is an emergency at NCSOS staff have been trained, and will react quickly to protect students and fellow
staff. The following procedures are in place and practiced:
Procedures
Earthquake
If there is an earthquake, students will duck, cover, and hold on until the shaking stops, and then will evacuate the
building to the Evacuation Area, if it is safe to do so.
Fire
If the emergency is a fire, students will evacuate to their Evacuation Area until authorities determine that it is safe
to re-enter the buildings. Students will not return until the buildings have been inspected and are determined to
be safe to enter.
Lockdown
Lockdowns may be initiated by law enforcement or school administrators. Lockdown procedures are based on information received and will vary dependent on incident. Lockdowns include locking doors, covering windows and silencing cell phones. If there is an imminent threat to the school site, additional procedures are implemented, such as evacuation, if it is safe to do so. In addition to covering windows and locking doors, barricading classroom doors may be done if evacuation is not a safe option. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has confirmed that the Run, Hide, Fight standard for personal protection during an active shooter attack is reasonable and appropriate (Cal OES Enforcement Division, 2/18); school staff is trained in this response.
Shelter in Place
If there is a hazard outside such as a report of criminal activity in the area, a nearby chemical spill, weather hazard or dangerous animal on campus, students will be brought inside where the building itself will help protect them from danger. Schools will act to protect students and are prepared to shelter the students inside classrooms for hours if necessary. If students are held for a lengthy period of time, there are procedures in place for emergency food, medical and restroom needs – these procedures vary depending on the nature of the danger to students.
Reunification off site
In rare instances, where more distance is needed to ensure student safety, students may be relocated to another site for reunification with parent/guardians. This includes during a threat of wildfire or other threat to the safety of staff and students. Parents will be advised of reunification sites through phone call/text/email/social media. For your safety and the safety of students, staff and first responders, please:
- DO NOT REPORT TO THE SCHOOL – procedures are in place to safely and efficiently reunify students with parent/guardians.
- Have persons authorized to pick up students LISTED ON STUDENT EMERGENCY CARD. No student will be released to any other adult, if not listed on the current emergency card.
- Be sure your student’s emergency card is up to date with emergency contact names and numbers.
- Have a photo i.d. at the reunification site; it will be required at the time of pickup.