As a reminder, Virginia Beach City Public Schools is committed to providing a safe environment for students, staff, and visitors. We work closely with national, state, and local police and fire officials in order to ensure our schools are well prepared to prevent and/or respond to any potential threat or emergency. However, keeping our schools safe requires a solid partnership and commitment from parents of every student. We offer the following as a guide for parents to help us continue to maintain a safe place for our children to learn -- free of disruption.
One voice can make a huge difference. Should your child have a “gut hunch,” or be aware of a “known fact” intended to cause harm to any individual or school property, this should be reported immediately to school officials or the police.
Listen to what your child is telling you. Read with a watchful eye his/her writings.
Investigate rumors, but do not entertain them. Stick to the facts! Speculation and useless dialogue will only cloud the investigation and increase the number of rumors being spread.
Know who your child associates with and get to know his/her parents.
Know what Web sites your child is viewing.
Know what information is being placed on your child’s MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter accounts.
Inform school officials and/or police of any and all potential problems. The phone number for the Crime Line is 1-888-562-5887.
Should your child receive a threatening text message via their cell phone, MySpace or Facebook account, alert school officials immediately or contact the police.
A threatening text message should never be forwarded. The Virginia Beach police will arrest and press charges against students involved in such instances. In addition, Virginia Beach City Public Schools will take disciplinary action against those who make threats or who participate in behavior that spreads fear and panic, resulting in disruption of school.
