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Safety & Security

Safety and Security

Reporting Safety Concerns

If you are a student or a parent/legal guardian with a safety concern, report it to a school administrator as soon as possible. 

Kennewick School District offers students, families and community members the ability to submit safety concerns by phone, email and text message, as well as through a form on the district website. Reports of harassment, intimidation, bullying and cyber-bullying may also be submitted online.

Report a Concern

Keeping Our Schools Safe: Important Protocols for the New School Year

At Kennewick School District, student safety is our top priority. As we start a new school year, we want to make sure you are familiar with our safety protocols. Please note that some of our protocols have changed for the 2024-25 school year. Here's how we are working to keep our schools safe and how you can help.

Emergency Communication

To keep you informed about safety and security threats, we use the ParentSquare communication platform to send out two types of notifications: Emergency Alerts (previously called "Critical Lockdowns") and Safety Updates.

#1 - Emergency Alerts notify families and staff immediately during a school lockdown or significant emergency on campus that poses an immediate threat to health or safety. Information is shared as soon as it is accurate and verified.

#2 - Safety Updates provide ongoing information about potential safety threats, ongoing situations, or to clarify rumors. The purpose of these updates are to keep everyone informed with factual information.

Secure and Teach Status

Sometimes, schools will implement a Secure and Teach (previously called "Non-Critical Lockdowns") status as a precaution. This could be due to nearby police activity or a situation inside the school that requires hallways to be cleared. In these instances, exterior doors may be locked, and students stay in their classrooms while continuing to learn.

When schools are in a Secure and Teach status, typically, no notification is sent out, since there is no threat or danger to students. Notification will only be sent if there are impacts to the school schedule or other reason that notification is deemed necessary.

Emergency Safety Drills

Each school conducts monthly practice of Emergency Safety Drills for a variety of potential safety situations as required by law. These drills include: Shelter-in-Place, Lockdown, Evacuation, and Earthquake. In addition, emergency evacuation drills are conducted three times per year on school buses.

When an Emergency Safety Drill occurs, no notification is sent out, since there is no threat or danger to students.

Programs & Prevention

Kennewick School District is committed to providing a safe learning environment for students. Our goal that every student is safe, known, and valued focuses on both physical and social-emotional safety. When students are physically and emotionally safe, they are better able to learn and achieve at high levels. The district's Safety Team, facilitated by the superintendent, meets regularly to coordinate safety efforts across multiple departments. As a school district, our safety and security efforts include:

Physical Safety

  • Front Offices Vestibules - School entrances have secured areas so that visitors are isolated from other parts of the school.

    Security Cameras - All district schools have school security cameras to monitor entrances, exits and some common areas. 

    Check-In/Out Procedures - All visitors are required to check-in/out at the front office. 

  • School Resource Officers

    The Kennewick School District (KSD) partners with the Kennewick Police Department (KPD) and the City of Kennewick to provide school resource officers across five middle schools and three high schools. These officers play a key role in the district’s safety plan, offering a wide range of services to maintain a secure environment. While on campus, they help develop safety plans and protocols, conduct drills, de-escalate conflicts, break up fights, handle detentions or arrests, perform personal property searches, patrol school grounds, ensure event safety, and provide law enforcement education.

    School Safety Officers

    Kennewick School District is actively working to place school safety officers in all elementary schools. As of the 2024-2025 school year, 9 out of the 17 positions have been filled, with the district continuing to hire until all roles are staffed. These school safety officers are KSD employees, funded by the KSD Educational Program & Operations Levy, which was approved by voters in February 2023.

    Their primary focus is maintaining a strong, visible presence in schools, building relationships with students and staff, and ensuring the safety of everyone on campus. In addition to traditional security tasks, they perform security checks, participate in emergency preparedness training, and play a key role in regular school drills.

    This program is managed in partnership with the Kennewick Police Department (KPD), which assists with the hiring process and conducts background checks on applicants. KPD also provides advanced training for safety officers, covering firearms, active shooter scenarios, de-escalation techniques, and emergency communication through police radio channels.

    Security Staff

    In addition to School Resource Officers (SROs), all middle and high schools in the district have staff members dedicated to providing security services on campus. These security personnel are responsible for ensuring the safety of students, staff, buildings, and property by patrolling school grounds, including the building perimeters, parking lots, and unsupervised areas. They step in to prevent activities that could cause harm, serve as role models for students, help supervise during arrival, dismissal, and mealtimes, monitor security cameras, intercept unauthorized visitors, and alert police or emergency services when needed. Security staff also notify appropriate personnel in cases of substance abuse, severe medical conditions, child abuse, potential suicide, and alcohol abuse, and assist emergency responders when necessary.

  • School Safety Plan Requirements/Drill Requirements

    All schools have current safe school plans and procedures in place, fully consistent with federal law. These comprehensive Safe school plans contain information on duties of school districts surrounding reports, drills, rules, and first responder agencies.

    Building Drills

    All Kennewick School District schools conduct safety drills at least once per month, including summer sessions with students. Drills practice four basic functional threat or hazard responses:

    1. Shelter-in-Place—To limit the exposure of students and staff to hazardous materials, such as chemical, biological, or radiological contaminants, released into the environment by isolating the inside environment from the outside
    2. Lockdown—To isolate students and staff from threats of violence, such as suspicious trespassers or armed intruders, that may occur in a school or in the vicinity of a school. Lockdown drills do not include live simulations of or reenactments of active shooter scenarios that are not trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate.
    3. Evacuation—To move students and staff away from threats, such as fires, oil train spills, or tsunamis
    4. Earthquake—To practice the "drop, cover, and hold" protocol

    For more information on the definition of drills, watch Defining Emergency Terms for Schools is a 5-minute video tutorial for Washington schools to assist them in their preparedness efforts. 

    Bus evacuation Drills

    Kennewick School District's transportation services department conducts emergency evacuation drills three times per year on school buses in accordance with state law (WAC 392-145-080).

    Required Staff Training

    All Kennewick School District staff member take required training courses in areas of school safety each year. Trainings include safety topics such as bullying recognition and response, child abuse and neglect, discrimination and harassment, staff responsibility and conduct, health emergencies, maintaining staff-student professional boundaries, managing difficult behaviors, workplace hazards, sexual harassment, the McKinney-Vento Act, and more.

  • Policies

    Student Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Cyberbullying

    Policy 3207 STUDENTS Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Cyber Bullying

    Procedure 3207 STUDENTS Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Cyber Bullying

    Policy 3207 STUDENTS Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying Incident Reporting Form

     

    HIB Compliance Officer 

    BJ Wilson
    Director of K-12 Student Services
    Email
    (509) 222-6534

Social-Emotional Safety

  • Discover how Kennewick School District is actively promoting SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) to benefit students' growth and success.

  • D.A.R.E.

    • D.A.R.E. is a comprehensive prevention education program taught by highly-trained Kennewick Police officers. D.A.R.E. Education Programs deliver science/evidence-based curricula that teach students good decision-making skills that will help them lead safe and healthy lives and cope with high risk circumstances including drugs, alcohol, violence, bullying, and internet safety.

    • D.A.R.E. is offered to all fifth grade students at all elementary schools and Mid-Columbia Partnership.

    • D.A.R.E is offered to all sixth graders at each middle school.

    • Migrant Mental Health Therapists

Student & Family Links