Safety Information

In Highland Park ISD, safety and security are a top priority. Parents, we cannot thank you enough for your partnership. Here is a list of several tips that, with your assistance, will help keep our campuses safe:

• Please do not drop off children before school opens unless they are meeting a coach, teacher or another campus supervisor.
• All volunteers and parents must wear their volunteer badges in plain sight at all times when on campus. We greatly appreciate your patience when checking into the school and undergoing criminal background checks.
• We ask that parents who need to contact their children during the school day do so through the proper campus channels. For example, if you need to deliver something to your child at school, please come to the front office to make arrangements. Please do not meet your child at the curb or at a playground fence, as this raises safety concerns for those who may not know that you are the child's parent.
• Please reinforce the message we give to our students about the importance of not opening campus doors to let people in, even their friends or others they may know. This allows us to know who is on campus and to run visitors through the security clearance procedure at the front office.  
• Keep an open dialogue with your children and encourage them to come forward with information related to school safety. Students and parents are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to the police or school officials.

HIGHLAND PARK ISD - EMERGENCY GUIDE FOR PARENTS

Highland Park Independent School District takes the safety of all students very seriously.  In the event of an emergency or disaster situation, our school has two goals:

1. To keep our students and staff safe
2. To keep parents and the community informed with timely and accurate information

Safety Steps

Here are some of the procedures we have in place to keep our students safe:

• Evacuation, fire and lockdown drills are conducted throughout the school year.
• Every campus has an emergency response plan in connection with our local police, fire and medical services and other responding agencies.
• Every classroom teacher has been trained in our emergency response procedures and there is a quick reference guide in each classroom.
• All visitors on campus must check-in, provide ID, be screened and wear a visitor badge.
• All volunteers must go through a criminal background check. For more information on volunteering, please visit the “Parents” section of www.hpisd.org.
• Volunteers are required to wear their badges in plain sight at all times when on campus.

5 Actions

In the event of an emergency, HPISD campuses will utilize one or more of the following action plans:

Secure

• In the case of criminal activity or other threat outside the campus, staff members and parents will be informed of the situation, and the campus will go on high alert. 
• The school day will continue inside the building, which will be locked, and there will be limitations on students, staff and volunteers entering and exiting the building, depending on the situation. 
• Staff and parents will be updated until the situation is resolved.

Shelter

• During a shelter response, such as a tornado, students and staff will move to the safest area inside the building. 
• During a shelter response, we ask that parents do not come to the campus, as the doors will be locked and students will not be released until the incident is over. 
• Following the emergency, the school district will work with safety officials to determine the appropriate action, such as evacuation or early dismissal. 

Evacuation

• During an evacuation, students and staff will leave the building to prevent harm or injury due to an emergency inside the school, such as a fire or gas leak. 
• If students must leave the building for safety reasons for an extended period of time, you will be contacted with information about when and where to pick up your children.

Lockdown

• During a lockdown, all interior and exterior doors will be locked and students are secured in their classrooms. 
• No one except emergency personnel will be allowed to enter or leave the building. 
• If you are notified of a lockdown, please do not go to the school, and stay in a location where you can receive further information. Students will not be released until the lockdown has ended.

Hold

• Hold is utilized in situations within a campus where student and staff movement needs to be halted to reduce congestion and movement in hallways. 
• Examples of Hold situations would be if there is a medical emergency or a lost student.

Student-Parent Reunification Process

If an emergency occurs that requires students to be removed from campus, they will be taken to an alternate safe location. Parents will be notified of the alternate location and given instructions about picking up their child. 

Remember, students can only be released to a parent, legal guardian, or an adult who is listed as an emergency contact on school records, so be sure to keep that list updated.

Anyone attempting to pick up a student must show proper photo identification.

Click here to download a reunification card:

Communication

The district communicates with parents in the
following ways:

• Text: HPISD will send emergency text messages to parents and staff members. You must sign up for the service to receive texts. Detailed instructions on how to sign up are located under the “Parents” tab on www.hpisd.org, for quick access click here.
• Email: Parents and staff members will receive email updates.
• Website: Emergency announcements will be posted on the front page of www.hpisd.org.

How Parents Can Help

• Be sure your email and phone numbers are up to date in Skyward. To make changes, log in to your Skyward Family Access account. A link to Skyward is located on www.hpisd.org and on each campus homepage.
• Be sure to update the contact information for the people who have your permission to pick your children up from school. The information can be updated in Skyward at any time. 
• Talk to your child about these procedures and let them know that the school has a plan to keep them safe.