Student Safety

See Something, Say Something

Help keep our school safe. If you are aware of any potential threat or student in distress, use the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS) by Sandy Hook Promise to submit a tip 24/7. Your report is completely confidential and could save a life.

Three Ways to Report (Which our students are trained on)

• Online: Submit a tip via the Say Something Website.

• Mobile App: Download the "Say Something" app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

• Phone: Call the 24/7 Crisis Center at 1-844-5-SAYNOW.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design is a concept whereas architectural design is utilized to deter threats as well as prevent or delay an offender from accessing a school. In the case of our schools, the sites are divided into zones, working from the exterior of a school where they meet the roadway, to the interior where students are present.

Evaluating these zones allows us to plan for improvements, in the short and long term, which allow us to deter threats or allow more time for a police response. These improvements may be physical, technological, or a change in process or procedure with our staff and students.

For example, fencing may need to be improved at a school site. This is a physical improvement in an outer zone. Locks may need to be upgraded inside a school. This may take the form of a physical improvement or, in the case of electronic access, a technological improvement.  How students enter or exit a school may show the need for a change in process or procedure.

Evaluations of school sites utilizing Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design is an ongoing collaborative process, utilizing many tools provided by the NM Public Education Department and many federal agencies, and is often dependent upon capital expenditures.

Parents often ask if and when information about lockdowns occurring at their children’s school will be communicated with them. There is no easy answer to this as it is dependent upon a variety of factors. 

Generally, with an Emergency Lockdown, information may come from the District during the lockdown. Normally, this information will consist of notifying parents there is an emergency lockdown in effect, will ask them to stay away from the area, and will direct them to other locations for more information. This may include websites for the District or for the City of Farmington.

More complete information may be sent out by the District or the City of Farmington later in the day.  This may consist of a more in-depth explanation of the events and will be dependent on the facts that have been determined and whether there is a current criminal investigation underway.

For a Preventative Lockdown, there may be no information sent out. Remember, these types of lockdowns are driven by events surrounding a school and generally pose no threat to the school.  Because they are often initiated out of an abundance of caution, they are often over quickly and students may not even know they have occurred.

Information may be provided by the school, the District, or the City of Farmington and will contain as much information as we have been given. This information may be limited as the District and its students and staff were not specifically involved in the incident itself.

Lastly, the District and the City of Farmington may feel the need to communicate threats that have been passed on to the school by students, parents, or through social media. Once again, this communication will be passed on by the school, the District, or the City of Farmington and will contain much of what we know as well as a statement judging the threat as credible or not. Many times, these threats originate from out of state and have no basis in fact. As with many other rumors, they grow as they are passed around and the District or City of Farmington will address them as needed.

For an actual emergency at a school, the District will give out information as quickly as possible. This information will consist of a general description of the incident taking place, the status of the students and staff at that site, and information sources for further information.

These sources may include our website and social media feeds, the websites and social media feeds associated with the City of Farmington, or sites associated with the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management. In addition, we may utilize local and state media sites to help pass along information about where children can be picked up or the status of a school site reopening.

Lockdowns are a way of keeping our staff and students safe while a threat is evaluated and/or responded to. Any employee can call for a lockdown over the radio or Public Address system if they feel the need.  In general, there are two different kinds of lockdowns: 

Preventative lockdown – When a Preventative Lockdown has been implemented, it has been reported that there is a threat outside of the school that necessitates our staff and students to stay inside. These lockdowns are often called by outside entities such as the Farmington Fire Department or the Farmington Police Department for situations like a HazMat spill in the roadway close to a school, a major traffic accident, or police activity near a school.

In a Preventative Lockdown, any students outside are brought inside the school and the outer doors are locked. After each student has been accounted for in their class spaces, students and staff resume normal operations inside the building. No one is allowed in or out until the lockdown and the lockdown will only be lifted when Fire, Police, or Farmington Schools Administration has determined there is no danger to students or staff.

Many times, these are called an extra layer of protection in case an incident moves toward a school and is lifted relatively quickly. Often, the students hear the announcement and do not see any other changes to their day as the situations are quickly resolved and school proceeds normally.

Emergency Lockdown – When an Emergency Lockdown has been implemented, it has been reported that there is a threat inside of the school that necessitates our staff and students to take shelter within their classrooms or other securable areas like the gymnasium. While we often think of these situations involving serious incidents like active shooters, they can be called for lesser situations like a stranger entering a school from an unsecured entrance/exit or a non-custodial individual trying to use force to enter a school to retrieve a child.

In an Emergency Lockdown, the danger is treated as if it is inside or extremely close to the school.  Exterior and interior doors are locked and no one is allowed to come inside or leave the school.

Lockdowns can also be called for specific situations where the police or emergency services need quick access to deal with certain circumstances. These may involve medical emergencies where hallways need to be cleared so medics can respond or situations where social media posts or anonymous reporting systems talk about a weapon on campus.

In these situations, police arrive quickly to investigate and either deal with the situation or dispel the rumor. These lockdowns often involve students staying in their classes while emergency services conduct their business as quickly as they safely can and are lifted as quickly as possible.

Farmington Municipal Schools partners with three different entities for emergency response: the Farmington Police Department, Farmington Fire Department, and San Juan County Office of Emergency Management.

• Farmington Police Department – This agency assists by providing School Resource Officers, responds to criminal situations that occur at schools, assesses and responds to threats to our staff, students, and school sites, and helps maintain the District-wide radio network. They also aid in training our personnel in how to respond to emergency situations and help plan for both small- and large-scale emergency events which may require a unified response.

• Farmington Fire Department – This agency responds to emergency medical and fire-related issues occurring at our school sites as well as to incidents involving our school buses throughout the city. They also help assess our drill response and emergency preparedness and help plan for both small- and large-scale emergency events which may require a unified response.

• San Juan County Office of Emergency Management – This agency assists by helping train our personnel and plan for our response to large-scale emergency events that usually require a unified response. They also act as the gatekeeper for outside resources that we may utilize in a large-scale event where resources may be needed from other school districts, San Juan County, or the State of New Mexico.

Occasionally, students and staff will need to evacuate from a school site because emergency services will not allow them to stay on site. In these situations, reunification will be conducted.

With a reunification, students, and staff are transported from the school site to another facility that has been pre-selected. Once there, a reunification site is set up where students can be fed and sheltered, parents can park and pick up their child, and staff can verify the right child goes with the right guardian.

In these circumstances, the District will use the contact information provided by the parent or guardian.  Information may be passed through text or an automated phone call. Please do not call the school.  Remember, the school has been evacuated so there is no one there to answer the phone.

The District will also release information through other avenues such as social media, partner websites through the City of Farmington, or traditional radio and television media outlets. There will be multiple updates and messages, so check often.

These updates will start with what is going on, continue with updates on where students can be picked up, and have information on the process and what parents will need to bring with them. Please be patient. While the process may appear redundant at times, the District is committed to verifying at multiple stages that the right student is with the right adult.

It is important to remember that reunification may occur for a variety of reasons. These may include a gas or water leak or criminal action on campus.  No matter the circumstances, the safety of the students and staff is the priority and, once that is assured, communication with parents and guardians will begin.

Staff at the Farmington Municipal Schools are trained in the correct response to a variety of emergencies that may occur at their sites. This includes subjects such as how to communicate with their co-workers and students through technology, how to provide accountability for their students in an emergency, and how to secure their site and/or evacuate from it safely depending upon the situation.

In addition, some schools also have specially designated security personnel who assist school administration in responding to low-level emergencies on campus and help with site-specific security issues.

FMS utilizes the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) model to evaluate and resolve threats by focusing on early intervention and student support.

Our multidisciplinary team follows a research-based process to distinguish between Transient Threats (non-serious; resolved with an explanation or apology), and Substantive Threats (serious intent to harm) to ensure every situation is handled with the appropriate level of care and security.

What Happens Next? (For Parents & Guardians)

When a concern is reported, our team follows a protocol to ensure the safety of all students:

• Assessment: The school team gathers facts, conducts interviews, and reviews relevant information.

• Safety Planning: If a threat is determined to be substantive, we take immediate protective action.

• Support & Monitoring: The focus is on resolving the underlying conflict and providing the student with necessary mental health or behavioral support to prevent future issues.

• Communication: Parents are kept informed throughout the process regarding their child's safety and any interventions being implemented.

There are multiple areas where technology is utilized for security in schools. These include access control, staff/visitor identification systems, cameras, radios, and a variety of software products.

With access control, electronic key card technology is utilized to secure outer doors throughout the district and doors that may access the areas where students are present. With staff/visitor identification systems, ID cards are utilized for staff while visitors are screened through a Visitor Management system before being allowed into areas where students are present.

Over 500 cameras, both interior and exterior, are present throughout the school sites and their locations are constantly evaluated to determine their best utilization.  Radios are issued to every staff member and a specific frequency links all of the schools and the San Juan County Communication Authority (police and fire dispatch) together in an emergency.

It is important to remember that technology cannot take the place of vigilance or training on the part of our staff and students, but it can assist in making our schools safer.