Safety Notices

Clear and responsible communication is a critical part of incident management. The MUSD Office of Public Relations establishes, coordinates, and directs public information to MUSD families and staff members in coordination with district and school administration, and law enforcement/emergency personnel.

The Marana Unified School District is committed to ensuring that students, staff members, parents, the media, and the community have accurate, consistent, and timely information in the event of an emergency or situation impacting school campuses.

In emergency situations, the priorities are:

The safety and health of students, staff and community members
Compliance with local, state and federal law and the directives of public safety officials
The privacy and emotional well-being of affected individuals
Clear and responsible communication in coordination with law enforcement/emergency personnel and MUSD administration with families, staff, and community members.

MUSD Communication With Families & Staff Members During Emergencies

Impacted families and staff members can expect to receive an email, text message, or recorded voice message when situations are impacting school campuses. Email communications typically are labeled “Safety Notices,” but can also include Transportation Notices, Health Notices, Weather Notices, and more. In emergency situations directly involving students, parents will be contacted by school or district staff members on the phone.

Emergency Communication - Commonly Used Terms

The following language may be used during emergency situations:

Shelter

Shelter provides refuge within MUSD buildings/schools during incidents such as animals on campus, severe weather conditions, chemical agents/Hazmat affecting the campus/facility, etc.
May include the need to shelter in areas that maximize student and staff safety, such as away from windows and doors.
Other examples include tornado, severe weather, wildfires, flooding, Hazmat spill or release, earthquake, etc.

Secure

The Secure Action is called when there is a nearby threat or hazard outside of the school building/campus that has the potential to impact a site. In these situations, law enforcement keeps us notified when the area becomes secure again, or if the situation requires additional security measures.
Secure uses the security of the physical facility to act as protection. Students and staff remain in classrooms with all doors locked, where activity and teaching can occur in secured classrooms.

Lockdown

Lockdown occurs when there is a threat or hazard inside or outside the school building. Lockdown uses classroom and school security protocol to protect students and staff from immediate threat.
Lockdown procedures are issued in situations where there is a dangerous and/or life-threatening situation on or near the campus such as intruder, potential weapon, student or parent disruption, or other incidents that may result in harm to persons.
Lockdown is a protocol that requires locking/barricading the classroom/office door, turning off the lights, silencing all electronic devices, covering windows, and placing students/staff out of sight of all windows and doors. Action during Lockdown is to remain silent and concealed from view. You do not come out of Lockdown until contacted by law enforcement or a campus administrator.
If a Lockdown turns into an Evacuation for campuses, normal reunification protocol will be implemented due to the nature of the incident.
The campus/school site might be a crime scene, which could result in an evacuation.
There are no partial Lockdowns.

Hold

Evacuate

Evacuate occurs when there is a need to move people from one location to another for safety reasons.
An on-site evacuation is conducted usually because of a mechanical failure that would disrupt the school day, such as a power outage. If it can’t be resolved quickly, the school may have to plan for early dismissal.
An off-site evacuation may be necessary when it’s no longer safe to stay in the building such as a gas leak or bomb threat.
If there has been a violent event at the school, an off-site evacuation will almost always be necessary since the school will be deemed a crime scene.

Reunification

If the evacuation is due to a critical incident where reunification is necessary, students will be taken to another MUSD campus. Processing areas will be established at the reunification site and include: a student assembly area, adult request area (parent/guardian), student release point, media staging, medical, crisis counseling, etc. Additional District staff will respond to manage an incident requiring reunification.

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