Mission, Texas- Mission Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) officials remain committed to providing as safe a learning environment as possible. Officials understand the concerns that come during and after any safety-related situation. Initial responses can be confusing and contain inaccurate information as rumors are spread through social media and messaging. For example, the most recent event at Veterans Memorial High School did not involve an active shooter, there was no masked person with a gun, and no one entered the school building with a gun.
District officials are committed to sharing accurate information with parents first as soon as possible. “In each situation, our first, and primary responsibility is to focus on the safety of our students and staff,” explained Dr. Carol G. Perez, superintendent. We know that communication with parents is an important part of any emergency situation and we will always work to provide factual information as quickly as possible. However, even with the technology available for mass messaging, that communication will not come until we have met our initial safety responsibilities.”
Mission CISD will continue to utilize a mass messaging system for parent notifications and will use it for updates as well as providing instructions for student pick-up once that is available. The SchoolMessenger system allows for phone calls, emails, and text alerts to the messages available. District officials strongly encourage parents to keep their campuses up to date on any changes to phone numbers and email addresses. Parents should review email filters and blocked message lists to be sure that they have not accidentally blocked, stopped, or filtered messages from the campus or “@mcisd.org” emails. This will be the primary means of communicating with parents during an emergency. Once communications are sent they are also shared with members of our area news media to help provide another source of information. As officials can, updates will also be shared on campus Facebook Pages.
District officials and law enforcement partners ask that parents avoid a campus area during emergencies. When parents rush to the scene it can not only put parents at risk, but it also can make the law enforcement responses more difficult.
During an emergency response, district officials will also rely upon the lead law enforcement agency to provide some incident details so as not to potentially interfere with investigations or 9on-going responses. Coordination of information being released will always be a goal between the district and its responding partners.
After emergency situations, Mission CISD implements careful protocols for student pick-ups which can result in longer lines than on a normal school day as students who would normally ride a bus may be among those to be picked up early.
Mission CISD will not report on day-to-day disciplinary matters that occur on a campus. Officials understand that some situations like fights may cause concern. However, parents whose children are directly involved in such incidents are notified directly about it by the campus. Federal laws also restrict what information can be shared regarding many situations involving students. However, district officials encourage parents to reach out to their child’s campus if they have questions about any safety issue or response.
Mission CISD reminds parents that it takes everyone working together to keep district schools safe. Any safety-related concerns should always be reported immediately to an adult on campus. They can also report concerns and threats through the district’s Stay Alert system, 1-206-406-6485, online at www.stayalert.info, or email at [email protected].
# # #