Safety & Security at School

Promoting a safe and secure environment is a top priority at Pius X High School. In partnership with students, staff, parents and local emergency personnel, we can all work together to safely and quickly respond to an emergency situation.

Anyone can report a safety concern by clicking through our website.

Emergency Preparedness: The Standard Response Protocol

Pius X has adopted The “I Love U Guys” Foundation’s Standard Response Protocol (SRP). Students and staff will be trained in the protocol and practice drills throughout the year. By practicing emergency preparedness, students and staff can better respond quickly, calmly and safely to a number of situations.

The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is based on an all-hazards approach as opposed to individual scenarios. Like the Incident Command System (ICS), SRP utilizes clear common language while allowing for flexibility in protocol.

There are five specific actions that can be performed during an incident: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter.

View the images on this page to learn more about each action.

Parent’s Role in an Emergency

The natural instinct for parents or guardians is to come to the school during an emergency to protect their children. However, by doing so, it may become problematic. If there is a threat inside the building, law enforcement will be responding and likely shut down access to the building and/or campus. Your arrival or calls may distract them from their work. Please help by doing the following:

1. Stay Home: please stay away from the school unless you are told to come
2. Stay Informed: information will be shared with families as soon as possible. You will automatically be included in School Messenger if your information is accurate in PowerSchool.
3. Be Ready: Be prepared to receive and follow instructions from Pius X High School or the Diocese of Lincoln, including where to go and what to bring. In some cases, students may be evacuated or transported to an off-site location for student-parent reunification.

Communications

• Keep your information on PowerSchool updated – if you have a change in phone, address, or email, please contact the office (402-488-0931) to update it.
• In an emergency – Pius X will communicate with you via text, phone and/or email. While we understand the importance of communication between parents and students during a lockdown event, please be aware, during the initial period of a Lockdown, it may not be safe for students to text their parents. As the situation resolves, students may be asked to update their parents on a regular basis (such as every 5 minutes).

Threat Assessment Protocol

The threat assessment protocol used by Pius X High School is based on information from the U.S. Department of Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Department of Education. Threat assessment is an objective, fact-finding process to determine whether there is an existing or posed threat to others. This process is initiated whenever perceived harm to others is reported to the school.

There are two levels to this process: an initial screen and/or a full threat assessment.

1. An initial screen is used by an administrator and counselor to determine the severity and likelihood of the perceived threat. If the information demonstrates a severe or significant concern or impact and/or not enough information is known to make an accurate determination – a full threat assessment will be used by a team of trained adults.
2. A full threat assessment is used to gather more facts surrounding the alleged threat and the individual student’s background.

Every concerning behavior that initiates the threat assessment screen will end with a student intervention and response plan, regardless if it goes to a full threat assessment or not.

If your student has been contacted as part of a threat assessment, the administration will be in communication with you regarding specific steps.

School Safety Policies

All students must visibly wear a school issued student identification card during the school day.The student ID must be worn on a lanyard around the neck.