NORFOLK —Norfolk Public Schools students and their parents are one click away from instantly reporting a concern to school administrators.
NPS rolled out the new SafeSchools Alert system across the District on Wednesday. The new reporting system enables all people to report any potential unsafe situations using four different methods: phone, text email or web.
Superintendent Dr. Jami Jo Thompson says the system is part of the District’s effort to bolster its top priority: student safety.
“We know that we have to be very proactive in helping to develop those relationships but also in giving students a way to report incidents that may be happening so that we can address them quickly,” Thompson said.
The online version of the reporting system prompts you to select your type of incident or tip, then asks for a location, summary and contact info. Once sent, an administrator at the specific school or at the District Office will get the alert.
Dr. Thompson says staff has been studying various reporting systems for the last six to nine months and settled on SafeSchools Alert because of its convenience.
“Students and parents almost always have a phone in their hand so it’s easy to send a text message, for instance,” Thompson said. “It’s very easy to go to our website if they don’t remember the phone number or the address.”
NPS released another safeguard on Wednesday: an informational video summarizing the district’s safety protocols.
“So that anyone in the community can see that we do have procedures in place if there is an event within our school,” Thompson said.
Thompson says staff chose to add a strategic planning goal to update and enhance procedures. She says a team will be developed to look at specific strategies to continually improve safety.
