Safety and Security

All of the District’s schools are equipped with the Blue Point Alert System. This provides an affordable Rapid Emergency Response System (RERS) that instantly notifies emergency responders and building occupants of an emergency situation, expedites a rapid response, triggers emergency management protocols and ultimately saves lives.

The District has a variety of ways to communicate to families during an emergency. One way to communicate during an emergency is by utilizing the our mass notification system. This system allows us to quickly and efficiently deliver messages to the entire school community or to a particular group or building that is affected. Notifications can be delivered via land line, cell phone, email, and text alerts. To review or updated your contact information, please log into your Campus Parent Portal account. 

Please rely only on official communication from school or public safety officials. Official communication may come through the following avenues:

• The District’s emergency notification system
• The District’s website
• The District’s email distribution lists
• The District’s social media accounts

In some emergency situations, students may be relocated to another facility for safety. In such an instance, Sycamore Community School District 427 Emergency Response Plan incorporates a systematic approach to reuniting students with their parent/guardians. The plan identifies two possible sites for Parent/Student Reunification for each building. Due to the unpredictable nature of an emergency, we will only be able to tell you where the Parent/Student Reunification Site is located at the time of the emergency. This will be communicated to you in one or all of the ways noted above in “Communication during an Emergency.”

In order to ensure your student’s safety, it is necessary for us to establish some protocols related to picking up your student. Please understand that the reunification process time-consuming so parents/guardians are urged to be patient. We will do everything we can to reunite you with your student as quickly and safely as possible. Therefore, please be advised of the following guidelines when picking up your child from a Parent-Student Reunification Site:

• Upon arrival, please report to the area designated as “Parent Report Point.” District Parent Reunification Team members will greet you and provide you with a student release form.
• You will be required to present valid identification. This step is required to protect your child from any unauthorized individuals attempting to pick up your child. The school will be receiving assistance from other schools or outside agencies and, therefore, may not know you.
• Students will only be released to you or an individual designated on the student’s Emergency Contact Information. It is critical that the information and phone numbers on your child’s Emergency Contact Information is current. We will be using this information to contact you through the District’s emergency notification system with the evacuation process and location for picking up your child. Please call your school’s main office to update your information.
• You will be required to sign for the release of your child. This is extremely important as it is our only means of ensuring that all students are accounted for at all times. Please do not take your child from the reunification center without signing for their release.

We recognize that you may be worried and want to be reunited with your child as quickly as possible. However, this system has been established to ensure your student’s safety. You may be jeopardizing your student or another student’s safety by not adhering to these procedures.