Bend-La Pine Schools offers the following safety resources to help keep parents and students informed. The information was provided by our partners in law enforcement and safety.
On this webpage, you will find information about:
To receive alerts for school weather closures and delays as well as in cases of emergencies - sign up for our text alert system - BLconnect. Learn more at our Alerts & Updates webpage
Sign up for Deschutes Alerts to receive emergency alerts for the county. Sign up by visiting the Deschutes County Alerts webpage. This service is provided by the Deschutes County 911 Service District.
The seven member Bend-La Pine School Board unanimously passed a resolution in November 2019 to start providing information to families about the safe storage of firearms.
Gun locks are available to citizens free of charge from many local agencies. Law enforcement say that every day is a good day to ensure firearms are stored securely to help keep families safe and prevent gun theft. To get a free gun lock, contact the Bend Police Department (541-322-2960 or [email protected]), Redmond Police Department (541-504-3473), Deschutes County Sheriff's Office (541-388-6655), Crook County Sheriff’s Office (541-447-6398 and select the Records Division) or the Prineville Police Department (541-447-4168). Bend and Redmond police can deliver gun locks to local homes. Firearm storage tips can be found online.
Gun owners and non-gun owners alike are encouraged to take these simple steps:
S - Secure all guns in homes
M - Model responsible behavior
A - Ask about firearms in other homes your child visits
R - Recognize the role of guns in suicide
T - Tell your peers to be S-M-A-R-T
Does your child know what to do if he or she finds a gun?
Local law enforcement recommend the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program, which provides parents with helpful, free materials to teach their children how to be safe when in the presence of firearms. Geared toward children pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, the program teaches concepts like stop, don’t touch, run away and tell a grown-up through song, videos and fun activities.
Bend-La Pine Schools also provides information to families about the safe storage of firearms in the following ways:
These tips come from the FBI — Safe Online Surfing and Think Before you Post. For more information about Internet and media safety, check out Common Sense Media
Establish rules for Internet use:Keep computers in a common room:
Stay informed:
Research Parental Controls:
Tell your parents when you are going online and talk to them about what you're doing online. If someone you don't know tries to arrange a meeting with you, immediately notify your parent or guardian.
Don't give out personal information, including:
Be careful when uploading photos:
Make use of privacy settings on social networking sites:
Don't post personal information about friends:
From Bend Fire Department: Before your child spends the night at a friend’s house, we encourage you to take time to ask about fire safety.
Over the years, there have been disastrous house fires that have taken the lives of multiple children. Many times there are children who are staying in the home for a sleepover — and many times the home has no working smoke alarms and the family has no escape plan.
It may be uncomfortable, but before any sleepover, parents need to ask: Does the home have working fire alarms and does the family have a plan for how to escape a burning house?
Make it a life priority of yours that you will NEVER leave your kids anywhere — in particular a sleepover — without making sure that the smoke alarms work.
Here are some facts from the National Fire Protection Association:
Building staff and contractors have worked to ensure that our physical building systems are working properly. For example, during inspections our teams identify impaired smoke dampers, a towel or tape muffling a strobe or low batteries in an alarm. Our teams are trained and capable of looking for these and other impairments and/or inoperative devices and to fix them on the spot, order parts for correction, or to bring in contractors to correct the issues. Additionally, our teams work to educate staff of the necessity of properly maintaining systems in their classrooms and work spaces.
In 2018-19, we added third-party contractors to the team. Working alongside our maintenance department, they spend time each year testing fire alarm systems to identify and correct any systems found to be impaired in our schools.
As of June 2019, testing is complete at most district sites. Testing will be complete at all sites in the Fall of 2019.
Our fire alarm testing program helps to ensure student and staff safety and preserve assets. We have a long history of compliance with fire code. We believe our students and staff are safe from fire and smoke exposure, thanks to early alarm/notification, student and staff evacuation, and fire department response – and our local fire marshals’ agree. Additionally, all schools are equipped with “smart” self-diagnosing devices systems that provide alerts and/or alarms if a fault is sensed – even a dirty sensor.
If you ever have a question about our fire inspection findings, we encourage you to check out the public reports at the local fire department or to call us directly. Though we do not notify parents of every issue we find and correct, we are happy to share them if you are interested. That said, you can be assured that significant concerns will be shared with you as soon as possible.
We are champions of fire safety. We believe that safety is everyone’s responsibility and hope that you, too, will join us in modeling what’s right to our students in their schools, community and homes.
Student Mental Health:
Visit our Student Mental Health page for related resources, information and tips.
Prescription Drug Safety:
Biking and Walking tips:
Walkers:
Bike riders: