Hold

The Hold Action is used when the hallways in the school need to remain clear. Classroom learning will still take place as normal during a Hold, but students may not be able to change classes until after the Hold has been lifted.

ACTIONS

Students and teachers are to remain in their classroom or area, even if there is a scheduled class change until the all-clear is announced.

Students and staff in common areas, like a cafeteria or a gym, may be asked to remain in those areas or move to adjoining areas like a locker room.

Students and staff outside of the building should remain outside unless the administration directs otherwise.

It is suggested that, prior to closing the classroom door, teachers should sweep the hallway for nearby students.

Secure

During a Secure, people are brought inside, and all activities inside the school continue as usual but no one will move in or out of the building.

During a Secure, the halls are open and may be utilized by students and staff as needed. People inside the school may not notice any difference in their daily routines during a Secure.

A Secure is enacted when a threat or hazard is outside of the school. Classroom instruction should continue as normal.

ACTIONS

The Secure Action demands bringing people into a secure building and locking all outside access points.

Where possible, classroom activities would continue uninterrupted. Classes being held outside would return to the building and, if possible, continue inside the building.

There may be occasions when students expect to be able to leave the building - end of classes, job commitment, etc. Depending on the condition, this may have to be delayed until the area is safe.

Students as well as their parents may be inconvenienced by these directives, cooperation is important to ensure everyone's safety.

Lockdown

Lockdown is called when there is a threat or hazard inside the school building. The Lockdown Action advises making rooms look unoccupied by locking individual classroom doors, offices, and other securable areas, moving occupants out of the line of sight of corridor windows, turning off lights, and having occupants maintain silence.

If students are unable to get behind a locked door, they are trained to self-evacuate.

If your child contacts you to let you know that they safely self-evacuated, please contact the district at 361-790-2212 to notify us your child is safe.

ACTIONS

The Lockdown Action advises making rooms look unoccupied by locking individual classroom doors, offices, and other securable areas, moving occupants out of the line of sight of corridor windows, turning off lights, and having occupants maintain silence.

RFISD implements policies requiring all exterior doors to be locked during the school day, which are consistent with current best practices. Therefore, the protocol advises leaving the exterior doors as is during a Lockdown Action. Be certain there’s a plan for allowing local first responders to gain access during a Lockdown. 

Training reinforces the practice of not opening the classroom door once in Lockdown. No indication of occupancy should be revealed until first responders open the door.

If the location of the threat is apparent and people do not have the option to get behind a door, it is appropriate to self-evacuate away from the threat.

Evacuate

Evacuate is called when there is a need to move people from one location to another. During an evacuation, students and staff are asked to move from one location to another in an orderly fashion.

ACTIONS

The Evacuate Action demands students and staff move in an orderly fashion to a safe area.

When the students and staff are evacuated off-site, they may be walking to a different location or being transported to the location and there will be an organized reunification of students and parents/guardians at that site.

Shelter

Shelter is called when specific protective actions are needed based on a threat or hazard. Sheltering requires that all students and staff follow response directives based on the threat or hazard.

ACTIONS

Safety strategies may include:

• Evacuate to Shelter area
• Seal the classroom door
• Drop, cover, and hold
• Get to high ground