School Safety
Presentations
Visitor Policy
All visitors to schools must report to the front office, state reason for their visit and receive a visitor badge prior to entering classrooms or school grounds.
Air Quality
The Air Quality Management District (AQMD) provides alerts and up-to-date reports on the air quality for our area.
The Air Quality Index) (AQI) has six levels beginning with Good to Hazardous and guidelines on what should be done at each level. Costa Mesa is in Region 18 and Newport Beach is in Region 20.
Conditions may change throughout the day and may be tracked through the interactive map website.
District staff receive daily AQMD alerts and will notify school sites of elevated levels of particle pollution in the air. Depending on the level certain outdoor or strenuous activities may be reduced or avoided for all students or those who are in a sensitive group.
High heat procedures
Safety is always top of mind in Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD) and while we have plans and processes in place to mitigate and manage emergency situations, please know that school safety is not something we can do alone. The partnership and support that we have with our local law enforcement and our school community is critical.
Standard Response Protocol
NMUSD is implementing the The "I Love U Guys" Standard Response Protocol (SRP) districtwide as part of an effort to streamline terminology used in emergency situations. The SRP clearly defines the five actions to take in an emergency: hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter.
NMUSD is partnering with WeTip 2.0 for secondary schools. WeTip 2.0 is a 24-hour anonymous reporting system (tip line) through which suspicious activity and safety concerns at secondary schools can be reported via phone, text and an online form. WeTip 2.0 will be implemented at all secondary schools. More information coming soon.
How we Prepare for Emergencies
Safety Plans:
All school sites and district facilities have safety plans in place which are updated yearly and as-needed throughout the year. Contact your child's school for more information.
Drills:
Schools regularly conduct safety drills with students and staff to prepare for a variety of potential situations. Drills include procedures for lock down, shelter in place, run, hide, act, earthquake and fire.
Staff trainings and school site trainings occur throughout the year on various safety related items.
We partner with the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach Police Departments to provide School Resource Officers (SRO), which are local law enforcement officers who serve our schools and district facilities.
Each site has emergency supplies and equipment, which are inventoried and re-supplied each year.
Emergency tips
- Take all emergency drills seriously
- Follow law enforcement, teacher and site administrator instructions
- If you see something, say something - Don't spread it- report it! This is the best deterrent to potentially harmful situations. We want everyone on our campus, including parents and guardians to be empowered to report any unusual or suspicious activity.
- REMAIN CALM! Employees at each of our campuses regularly train in emergency procedures in numerous scenarios. They will do everything possible to keep your child safe.
- DON’T CALL THE SCHOOL. The phone lines need to be kept open for emergency calls and staff may not be available to answer calls. The first priority during an emergency is to keep students and employees safe. Communication will be sent to parents/guardians as soon as possible. (See section below for emergency communications information)
- DON’T IMMEDIATELY DRIVE TO THE SCHOOL. Additional presence on campus could impede the ability of emergency and law enforcement vehicles to access the school. Please wait for specific instructions from the school or district. Depending on the situations the reunification may be at an alternative location.
- YOUR CHILD WILL ONLY BE RELEASED TO ADULTS LISTED ON THEIR EMERGENCY CONTACT LIST! Please ensure that your child's school has the most recent contact information on file - Update Contact Information. At the conclusion of an emergency, be sure to bring your identification to the reunification area in order for your student to be released to you.
Emergency Communications
In the case of an emergency at our schools, we ask that you please remember to look for official information from the school or district. We deliver messages via school and district websites, email, phone, text, NMUSD mobile application, and district social media accounts - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Please ensure that your child’s school has your most current contact information on file – Update Contact Information
Contact Us
Emergency: Call 911
Contact your child's school administration for questions about safety - School Directory
See Something, Say Something
If you see something, say something - Don't spread it- report it!
This is the best deterrent to potentially harmful situations. We want everyone on our campus, including parents, guardians and guests to be empowered to report any unusual or suspicious activity to a site administrator, employee or police.
Resources
Ready OC
Orange County's emergency preparedness resource
AlertOC is a mass notification system designed to keep Orange County, California residents and businesses informed of emergencies and certain community events.
AlertOC is operated by the County of Orange in collaboration with local cities.
