With school shootings being a topic in national media, the Iberia Parish School District continues to take school safety seriously. 

“I want our parents to know that the Iberia Parish School District is taking every precaution to ensure that our students are safe at school,” Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Joseph said. 

“Even though we can’t totally prevent these traumatic things from happening in our schools, we are committed to putting security measures in place and to providing training to our staff so that if and when it does happen, they will be better prepared to handle these types of situations.” 

Joseph added that students in schools are encouraged to “say something if they see something” and the review and revision of emergency plans if changes are needed are always ongoing. 

The school district has been committed to investing in school safety in the last few years. The district hired a security assessment company to complete an in-depth risk assessment and analysis of facilities in the district, where vulnerabilities were identified for correction. 

Joseph said a District Emergency Management Team has also been established, which trained members in their roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency. 

Annual training is provided for school emergency teams on active shooter awareness as well as workplace/school violence. Crisis scenario training where school intruders or other emergencies are often a part of that training. 

For students and faculty, drills are frequently performed during the school year that address lockdowns, lockouts, shelter in place, searches for weapons, fires and tornadoes as well. 

In the case of an emergency lockdown, the school district implements an emergency management organizational chart that outlines the district personnel and responsibilities. 

Administrators are informed of who to contact under the chart and district personnel then contact the necessary assistance. 

Working with first responders as well as attending to the emotional state of students are part of the response plan as well, Joseph said.

“We will continue to partner and collaborate with law enforcement and other first responders to coordinate a response plan in case of a traumatic event,” Joseph said. And finally, we will continue to address the social emotional issues of our students in hopes of preventing or reducing further crises.”