Santa Barbara Unified School District adopts Standard Response Protocols

Santa Barbara’s largest school district now has a new plan for safety and how students, staff, parents and law enforcement respond to emergencies.

So what does this renewed focus on student safety mean for you and your kid?

The Santa Barbara Unified School District Board adopted the plan Tuesday night, affecting everyone from Kindergarten to 12th grade.

School officials say their current plans were robust, but it was clear that they needed to provide direction and universal reorganization.

As a parent, Melissa Lowenstein admits that it’s hard knowing her kids are going through active shooter drills.

“There was a sort of sense of this is Santa Barbra, nothing bad happens in Santa Barbara, and bad things happen everywhere, it’s only a matter of when,” said Lowenstein, Programs Coordinator, AHA (Attitude Harmony Achievement)

The mom of five past and present Santa Barbara Unified students is confident that kids will be safer thanks to the new district-wide standard response protocols.

“If it becomes just sort of part of the routine and that’s what they’re doing, they’re doing more frequent drills, it doesn’t create as much anxiety,” said Lowenstein.

School officials say by adopting a universal framework for crisis prevention everyone is on the same page.

“If you’re at an elementary school, a junior high or high school it doesn’t matter which school we’re all doing the same type of emergency responses,” said Kelly Moore, Safety Coordinator, Santa Barbara Unified School District.

With distinct, common language between first responders, students and staff, moms like Lowenstein say this united front is what parents have been asking for.

“You’ll have the same evacuation protocols, the same lockdown protocols, the same lockout protocols, same shelter in place protocols,” said Moore.

Moore points out that if you transfer schools or teachers move around within the district, emergencies will be handled the same across the board.

While the streamlined emergency response plan wasn’t spurred by a particular event, Lowenstein says this is a multi-tiered approach to student safety, and the district is investing more in social-emotional learning.

“When students feel safe, seen and celebrated and like they belong and like they don’t have to worry about being othered or ostracized or bullied, then nobody gets to a point where they feel like they have to show up on campus with a gun,” said Lowenstein.

The district is partnering with the Colorado-based non-profit “I Love You Guys” Foundation, adopting their framework after extensive work with law enforcement.

Training will begin in October, and the program will be rolled out in increments after that.