School Safety
Standard Response Protocol
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District utilizes a system called Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to guide administrators, staff, classrooms, and individual students through standardized responses regardless of the threat. This all-hazards approach focuses not on the incident itself, but rather on the required response by those involved. The SRP provides five simple, concise actions to be taken regardless of the situation. Instead of initiating different actions for each scenario, the SRP utilizes the five actions for all potential threats. Below is an overview of the SRP actions.
Symbol | SRP Action | Definition | Examples |
HOLD “Hold in your room or area. Clear the halls.” | For situations that require students and staff to remain in their classrooms or stay out of access areas. |
| |
SECURE “Secure. Get inside; lock outside doors.” | Typically based on communication from law enforcement. For situations where there is a threat or hazard outside the school campus. Utilize monitored entry and access control. |
| |
LOCKDOWN “Locks, lights, out of sight.” | For situations where there is a threat or hazard on the school campus. Students and staff move away from windows and doors. |
| |
EVACUATE “Evacuate. Go to ‘location’.” | For situations when there is a need to move people from one location to another for safety reasons. Red/Green/Med cards will be utilized. Evacuations can be on-site or off-site and may be accompanied by Reunification. |
| |
SHELTER “Shelter for ‘hazard’.” | For situations where specific protective actions are needed based on a threat. |
| |
WHITE | ALL CLEAR | All Clear is initiated when the SRP action has concluded. |
|
REUNIFICATION | Any incident that requires students to be released to approved guardians. |
|
Communication
During a school emergency, school administrative teams will communicate with families using the Parent Square application. Parent Square provides notifications to parents and student via text message, voice message, email, and app notification. All parents and students have a Parent Square account; if you need help accessing your Parent Square account, please contact your home school.
What Should Parents Do in an Emergency?
SMJUHSD's number one priority during an emergency is keeping our students safe. For this reason, we ask for our families' assistance in the following three ways:
- Stay Home
- Stay Informed
- Be Ready
Stay Home: We know the natural instinct as a parent or guardian during an emergency is to come to school to protect your child. By doing so, you may endanger yourself and your child. The most important contribution you can make is to stay home and await further instructions.
Stay Informed: SMJUHSD is committed to providing timely information. In some situations, accurate information may take some time to verify and share, so we ask for your patience.
During an emergency, SMJUHSD will provide information via the appropriate communication avenues, which may include:
- District Website
- Voice, Text and Email Messages (via Parent Square)
- App Notifications (via Parent Square)
- Social Media – including Facebook, Instagram, and X
- Local News Media
Be Ready: Depending on the nature of the emergency, specific actions may be required of parents. For instance, during a reunification event, you may need to come to the school to pick up your child. Please follow the directions sent by the district or your child’s school.