Text, Phone & Email messages will provide early notification
In the early moments of an emergency, school leaders have their hands full. Whether it is a Lockout, Lockdown, Shelter in Place or Evacuation – a lot needs to happen to ensure students and staff are safe and cared for.
Douglas County School District's (DCSD) communication protocols will ensure that school leaders are able to keep their focus on what matters most during those situations, while also providing families the accurate and timely information they need.
Anytime the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is activated at a school, the DCSD Communications team will quickly send parents an alert via phone, text and email messages, letting them know of the Lockout, Lockdown, Shelter in Place or Evacuation.
This initial message will be short, providing only the basics of the situation and will likely look like this:
(INSERT SCHOOL NAME): LOCKOUT – Students brought indoors. Learning and other activities continue as normal. More info to come. From DCSD Communications
The DCSD Communications team will provide additional updates about the situation, as needed, until it is resolved. They will then partner with the affected school to provide parents and guardians final information about the incident.
These messages will be sent using the District’s emergency notification system. Phone calls will come from 855-695-9448 and text messages will be sent from 68453. Please consider adding both numbers to your phone’s contacts as “DCSD Emergency.”
All other school and District related communication will be from 877-279-4061 and 67587.
Read, download, and share the publication below, A Parent's Guide to Crisis Communications
Crisis Communications for ISSUU.pdf
What Should Parents/Guardians Do During an Emergency?
As you know, DCSD's number one priority during an emergency is keeping our students safe. For this reason, we ask for our family’s 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
DCSD 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, DCSD will provide information via the appropriate communication avenues, which may include:
- District Website
- Voice, Text & Email Messages
- DCSD Mobile App
- Social Media – including Facebook & Twitter
- 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.
Sign Up for Emergency Messaging or Change Preferences
You are always welcome to add new emergency contacts or change your messaging preferences:
- Parents: Log into the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and click on “Contact Preferences” in the left-hand column. If you see an incorrect phone number or email, please contact the registrar at your child’s school to request an update.
- Staff: Log into Workday.
After confirming that you have opted-in to text messaging for emergency and/or school notifications via Infinite Campus, you will also want to send a text message to the following:
- Emergency text notification: Send text to 68453 with the message “YES”
- Standard/School text notification: Send text to 67587 with the message “YES”
Have additional questions?
Should you have additional questions, please contact the IT Support Center (303-387-0001) to ensure you receive emergency notifications accurately and quickly.