What to Expect: District Communication During, After Incidents  

Our principals and administrators sometimes receive questions from families during or after an incident at a school or involving students or staff. We’re reaching out today to share a bit about our communication process in an effort to help strengthen common expectations for our school community. 

District Communications Team members often work hand in hand with principals, school staff and administrators during and after an incident at a school, so we can share details with families, staff and community members (and some students who are signed up to receive our bulletins). 

When communicating about incidents at school and/or involving our students or staff, we strive to give families enough information so they can talk with their student(s) if they would like to. Depending on the incident, we sometimes include additional resources for support. 

However, we balance that desire to inform our school community with the need to ensure we don’t compromise ongoing investigations; and also protecting student privacy. We communicate as soon as we can so that families aren’t left wondering, but that means we’re often sending a message before our staff has had a chance to verify pertinent facts or allegations. We work diligently to only share verified information. 

As a result, our messages may sometimes seem vague, in order to balance all of those factors. When we can, we follow up with additional details or updates for families.