SAFETY & SECURITY

Oakland Avenue Charter School is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all
students, staff, and visitors while ensuring effective response to emergencies that might affect safety or security of students and staff. OACS will remain diligent in assessing health, safety, and security needs in response to a changing world. Necessary changes will be communicated as needed.

CLOSED CAMPUS

Oakland Avenue Charter School operates as a closed campus. Students may not leave the campus at any time unless it is for a pre-arranged appointments. Apart from OACS students and staff, NO persons will be permitted within the campus perimeter without registering as a visitor. All visitors will be required to wear a name badge label throughout the entire visit.

BACKGROUND CHECK

Oakland Avenue Charter School requires all persons employed by the school to be subject to
background checks. Persons who volunteer in any capacity must complete a background check.

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER

In keeping with statewide efforts to improve school security, OACS will have a full-time, school
resource officer (SRO) assigned to our campus. Our SRO is a fully certified police officer and a
member of the Oakland Police Department. Our SRO will be highly visible and whose primary
responsibility will be the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff. Beyond that, OACS will partner with our SRO to provide lessons to students related to safety challenges that elementary school children face.

STANDARD RESPONSE PROTOCOL

OACS will use OCPS’ District Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) as a baseline for establishing all-hazards preparedness to address the widest range of emergencies, crises, and disasters. The plan establishes a coordinated response for managing emergencies or disasters which threaten the safety and well-being of the school community or disrupt programs and/or operations.  Employees are expected to understand emergency response processes and procedures outlined. All OACS staff will complete a series of emergency preparedness training courses annually. OACS will use standard vocabulary and protocols that are universally understood by the public safety community (law enforcement, first responders, etc.).  The District Response Protocol was adopted from the Standard Response Protocol from the "I Love You Guys" Foundation. For more information see http://iloveuguys.org/

FIRE SAFETY

To keep students always vigilant, Oakland Avenue Charter School stages evacuation drills in
accordance with the State of Florida and the Orange County Fire Department. Parents on campus during drills must follow staff instructions and not interfere with the operations.

WEATHER EMERGENCY PLAN

If such an emergency arises during school hours, parents may sign-out their children from the school office. Students not picked-up will be dismissed at the regular dismissal hours. Oakland Avenue will use a telephone contact tree, Connect Ed, e-mail, or its website to convey the status. Hazardous weather drills are conducted as required throughout the school year. OACS will follow Orange County Public School’s closing and/or school delay decisions unless school specific needs require an alternative decision.

30/30 PROCESS

If severe weather occurs during dismissal, OACS is required to enact the nationally recognized “30/30 Rule.”  The 30/30 Rule is the Delayed Dismissal Weather procedure that must occur at the school if thunder is heard within 30 seconds of a lightning strike. 

When the 30/30 Rule is implemented, students will not be dismissed until 30 minutes has passed from the last sound of thunder. However, parents/guardians who wish to pick up their child(ren) during delayed dismissal, will be allowed to sign out their child(ren) at the front office.  

In order to pick up your student(s) from the front office during this procedure, parents/guardians must follow the normal carline procedure.  Once you reach the numbered spots in front of the school, you can exit the vehicle and bring the dismissal sign to the front door of the school to sign your child(ren) out. If you do not have a dismissal sign, you will need to provide a picture ID and be on the school pick-up list to pick-up the child(ren). Bus riders will be delivered home when conditions are all safe for dismissal.

Alternatively, parents/guardians may choose to exit the carline and await notification that the 30/30 has been lifted.

CRITICAL EMERGENCY PICKUP

In the event that children need to be evacuated, notification of emergency pickup location will be
provided via RoboCall and electronic communication methods (Bloomz, Website).