SAFETY & SECURITY: GENERAL INFORMATION
Safety and security is a high priority at Maria Regina School. All schools in the Archdiocese are intended to be environments that educate, nurture and support students according to the basic Christian principles of charity and love of neighbor. Everyone involved in the development of children and youth—teachers, administrators, parents, family and friends—is required to behave in accordance with these principles.
Our Christian principles provide that:
- Parents or guardians are expected to work courteously and cooperatively with the school to assist the student in meeting the school’s academic, moral and behavioral expectations.
- Students and parents or guardians may respectfully express their concerns about the school operation and its personnel. However, they may not do so in a manner that is discourteous, scandalous, rumor driven, disruptive, threatening, hostile or divisive.
- Parents, guardians or other responsible adults who insult or abuse school personnel in the presence of other school personnel, students or parents on or adjacent to school premises or at some other place where school personnel are required to be in connection with their assigned school activities, may be asked to withdraw their student from the school.
- Conduct that materially disrupts class work or extracurricular activities or that involves substantial disorder will not be tolerated.
These expectations for students, parents, guardians or other responsible adults include, but are not limited to, all school-sponsored programs and events (e.g., extended care, athletics, field trips, etc.).
The school reserves the right to determine, in its discretion, when conduct is of such a severe nature as to warrant immediate action without warning. The action may include removal of a family and its students from the school.
ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles will not knowingly assign or retain a priest, deacon, religious, lay person or volunteer to serve in its parishes, schools, pastoral ministries, or any other assignment when such an individual is determined to have previously engaged in the sexual abuse of a minor.
Under the Zero Tolerance Policy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, any person guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor under the age of 18:
- May not have any paid or volunteer assignment in any ministry in the Archdiocese, and
- May not volunteer in any non-ministerial activity or event where he or she has any possibility of more than incidental contact or supervisory or disciplinary power over minors.
Any parent or guardian who is a registered sex offender must contact the principal to discuss the requirements in order to assure compliance with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Zero Tolerance Policy.
As a member of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles community, Maria Regina Catholic School wants to assure that it is in compliance with both Megan's Law and the Archdiocese’s Zero Tolerance Policy.
SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH
The school and the parish religious education programs have established ongoing safe environment training programs for students, children and youth. All parents are provided home based materials to help them understand and support their student's education regarding child sexual abuse. The approved programs include the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Self-Protection Program 1-12, Good-Touch/Bad-Touch® and VIRTUS® Teaching Touching Safety (Mandated September 1, 2006).
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles Self-Protection Program 1-12 was developed by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to assist the parishes and school to comply with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops mandated self-protection programs. It is to be presented annually at each grade level.
Good-Touch/Bad-Touch® is being implemented in Grades K-9 in Catholic elementary schools throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The program is designed to be age-appropriate, to support students in understanding occasions of abuse, and to give them confidence in reporting and asserting themselves in situations where they feel unsafe.
VIRTUS® Teaching Touching Safety is a K-12 program being implemented in religious education programs and Catholic schools. This program is a vehicle through which parents, teachers, catechists and youth ministers give students the tools they need to protect themselves from those who might harm them.
The Archdiocesan Office of Safeguard the Children works with the schools and Directors of Religious Education in the parishes to establish these programs. Questions concerning Safe Environment Training can be forwarded to the principal.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
To maintain a safe environment, the school cooperates with the local health officer in measures necessary for the prevention and control of communicable diseases in school age children – Education Code, Section 49403(a). A student who has been absent from school because of a reported communicable disease must have a permit issued by the Public Health Department, a physician, or a nurse before he or she is re-admitted to school.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
The following procedure is used if a student or employee is identified as COVID-19 positive or suspected positive, based on symptoms or close contact with a medical diagnosis of COVID-19.
| Student or staff with: | Action | Communication |
| COVID-19 Symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, loss of taste, smell, difficulty breathing) | - Send home
- Consult Medical Provider for further evaluation and possible COVID-19 testing. (If positive, see #3; if negative, see #4)
- School/classroom remain open
| |
| Close contact* with a confirmed COVID-19 case | - Send home
- Quarantine for 10 days from last exposure
- Recommend testing (but will not shorten 10-day quarantine)
- Cohort to close
- School to remain open
| - Consider school community notification of known contact.
- Confidentiality will be maintained in this correspondence.
|
| Confirmed COVID-19 case infection | - Notify local public health department
- Isolate case & exclude from school for 10 days from symptom onset or test date
- Identify contacts, quarantine & exclude exposed contacts from school (likely entire cohort**) for 10 days after the last date the case was present at school while infectious
- Recommend testing of contacts, prioritize symptomatic contacts (but not shorten 10-day quarantine)
- Disinfection and cleaning of classroom and primary spaces where case spent significant time
- Must provide doctor's note stating ok to return BEFORE returning to school or must quarantine for total of 14 days
- School remains open
| - School community notification of known case.
- Confidentiality will be maintained in this correspondence.
|
| Tests negative after symptoms | - Child stays home until fever free without fever reducing medication for 24 hours and improved symptoms
- Report status to institution
- School/classroom remain open
| - Consider school community notification if prior awareness of testing.
- Confidentiality will be maintained in this correspondence.
|
*A contact is defined as a person who is <6 feet from a case for >15 minutes in a 24-hour period. In some school situations, it may be difficult to determine whether individuals have met this criterion and an entire cohort, classroom, or other group may need to be considered exposed, particularly if people have spent time together indoors.
**A cohort is a stable group with fixed membership that stays together for all courses and activities (e.g., lunch, recess, etc.) and avoids contact with other persons or cohorts.
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
EMERGENCY CARD
An emergency card is given to each family during the first week of school. The information must be filled out completely and kept current throughout the school year. Please notify the school office immediately if either an address or phone number has changed. All information on the emergency cards is strictly confidential and is limited to school use. A child will be released ONLY to those persons listed on the emergency card.
EMERGENCY PROCEDURE – EARTHQUAKE OR OTHER DISASTER
The school will have a practice fire drill and drop drill each month (used in case of an earthquake or other disaster) to familiarize the students with emergency procedures. In the event of an actual emergency during school hours, the students will be kept under the school’s supervision until a parent or other authorized adult (as noted on the emergency release card filled out at the time of registration) is available to pick them up.
After an earthquake or disaster, we ask parents: PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE SCHOOL. If the telephone lines are functioning, they will be needed for emergency calls, and the staff will be preoccupied and not available to handle phone calls. Ordinarily, a telephone committee put into action by a volunteer chairperson will contact parents in case of any emergency. If an emergency occurs outside of school hours, please listen to the radio (KNX 1070 AM) for instruction on school closures, or contact the school office and listen to the recorded message.
SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES TO BE FOLLOWED DURING THE TIME OF A NATURAL DISASTER:
- FIRST DAY: Maria Regina School will follow the same procedures as the public schools in the area. If danger is imminent, we will evacuate even though the public schools may not.
- SECOND DAY: The degree of danger will be reassessed locally and the decisions to open or close the school will be the responsibility of the pastor and principal. Such decisions will be based on the severity of danger at Maria Regina School, and may differ from the actions of local public schools.
EMERGENCY DISASTER ALTERNATE SITE
In case Maria Regina School is destroyed, chemically contaminated, or becomes otherwise uninhabitable for safety reasons, students will evacuate the building and walk north to Rowley Park, which will become the Emergency Operations & Release Center (EORC). We will relocate to the baseball field where a similar system, like that at the school site, will be set up for the dismissal of students. Students may be picked up by parents, guardians, or other authorized persons from that location.
Rowley Park is located at the corner of Van Ness Ave. and 132nd Street in Gardena (just north of the school).
Students will only be released to a parent or other authorized adult (as noted on the emergency release card filled out at the time of registration). Authorized persons must report to the EORC where students will be released. Students will remain in the EORC until signed out or until directed by a higher authority to move to an evacuation center provided by the city (American Red Cross, etc.)
EMERGENCY PROCEDURE – ILLNESS OCCURRING DURING SCHOOL
If a student becomes ill during the day, parents will be called and arrangements will be made to take the student home. It is essential that current emergency numbers for parents are kept on file in the school’s office.
Emergency/Earthquake Kit & First Aid Supply List
Should an emergency or disaster situation ever arise in our area while school is in session, Maria Regina School requires every student to be prepared. Thus, each student shall have an Emergency Kit that contains items such as those below turned in to each child’s teacher. These items may be compiled in a one-gallon Ziploc bag or bought as a package online. Items to include are:
- First Aid Kit
- Emergency food (snack), dried fruit, beef jerky, granola bars, cheese/peanut butter crackers, etc., placed in smaller baggies (NO loose snacks that could attract ants).
- Water (1 plastic bottle/16 Oz.)
- Small Thermal Blanket
- Essential medication and medical supplies (if applicable)
- Flash light & batteries
- Small packets or travel pack of hand-wipes
- Eyeglasses (if applicable)
*Note*: All supplies should be label with your child's first name, last name, grade and teacher’s name. ***Emergency kit will be returned at the end of the school year.
