Family Spotlight

Community vigilance and collaboration is one of the best ways to prevent incidents in our schools and to help students who are struggling. Bend-La Pine Schools encourages students, families and community members to feel comfortable sharing if they are informed of or witness unsafe or unhealthy behaviors. If you are told something by a student, observe abnormal behaviors, or see alarming social media posts, please say something.

SafeOregon is a reporting tool that can be used by anyone via phone call or website form to report a student safety concern. Examples of these student safety concerns could include: vandalism, cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, insufficient food or safety concerns at home, or anything that poses a risk to the safety of a student(s) or school facility. Reporters can share their information or remain anonymous. The SafeOregon app is on all student iPads.

Bend-La Pine Schools’ staff uses this reported information to coordinate with our law enforcement partners to keep the school community safe. If there is ever information needing to be shared with our students, families, and partners, we will send messages via BLConnect. We all play a role in keeping our community safe.

If you are a firearms owner, have you taken steps to secure your firearms to prevent children or others from accessing them? Secure gun storage helps prevent suicide and accidental death and injuries.

More than 4 of every 10 parents of children under the age of 18 have a gun in their household, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among those parents, one-third say their guns are stored in an unlocked location and one-third say they store their firearms loaded. Sixty-one percent say they store their guns in the same location as ammunition.

There are many ways to increase safety in our homes and community with simple options such as inexpensive cable locks that work on most firearms. Take a few minutes to learn more from the Central Oregon Secure Firearm Storage project. Click here to learn more.

The Bend Police Department and Deschutes County Sheriff's Office have a supply of cable locks for use in securing firearms. If you’d like one, call or stop by their offices. Gun owners are welcome to pick up free keyed cable and trigger locks firearms at the Education Center, 520 NW Wall Street, in Bend.

From left: Deputy Jeff Woods, Officer Drew Fanaika, Officer John Horvath, SRO Supervisor Sargeant James Kinsella, Officer Jeremy Avery, Officer Dan Koehnke

Our Safety Team at Bend-La Pine Schools has expanded going into the 2025-26 school year. To start, 14 campus monitors have been hired to serve our middle and high schools. Campus monitors are responsible for maintaining security and reporting suspicious behavior, ensuring students are in class. They also work to form positive relationships with students.

The department has also welcomed a Behavioral Threat Assessment Manager and three new members of the School Resource Officer (SRO) team!

The district partners with Bend Police Department and Deschutes County Sheriff's Office to embed a team of eight officers and deputies in our school communities. Our SROs work to build positive relationships with students, staff and families and enhance school safety. They support schools with training, investigation of school threats, help resolving criminal incidents, and educating students on safety. Officers and deputies can be seen outside of schools greeting students in the morning, supporting after-school events, and providing a strong presence in schools every day.

The entire SRO team attended the Oregon School Resource Officer Association Conference earlier this summer to learn from national experts on drug trends, case studies on emergencies, and legal updates. The three newest members took part in standardized training put on by the National School Resource Officer Association.

We encourage open dialogue with SROs for families who have safety concerns or are looking for information on district safety measures. The partnership is vital to the safety of our schools.

Bend-La Pine Schools is investing millions of dollars from the 2022 voter-approved bond measure to improve safety features in our schools. New fire alarm systems are nearing completion at 18 schools. The work is scheduled to conclude in January 2026.

Another major project touching nearly every school in the district involves installation of new door locks for learning spaces. This improves school safety with up-to-date, easy-to-use locks for an estimated 3,200 doorways. The final locks are scheduled to be replaced before January 2026.

Older door locks are not suited to our current safety practices. Most doors can only be locked using a key, and many of these lock from the hallway side of the door, meaning a staff member needs to open the door, use a key to lock it, and close the door again. That’s cumbersome and time-consuming in an emergency.

Our new door locks are fast and easy to use: Just turn the switch from inside the classroom. No need to find a key or open the door. And once locked, it’s easy to see it’s locked from across the room. Also, if someone exits the room, the door remains locked when closed again.

All middle and high school students in our district can find on their school iPads mental health resources, the SafeOregon tipline, and the 9-8-8 suicide and crisis lifeline. Students are also encouraged to contact YouthLine at theyouthline.org via phone, text, chat, and email to talk about anything that may be bothering them. Teens are available to help daily from 4-10 p.m. Pacific Time (adults are available by phone at all other times).

When your child needs help, it’s hard to know where to turn. In an effort to ease the burden of finding mental health and substance use services, all families in our District are welcome to use CareSolace, our central hub for finding care. CareSolace supports the well-being of students, staff, and their family members. This complimentary and confidential care coordination service can help you quickly find mental health or substance use treatment options matched to your needs regardless of circumstance.They will connect with providers accepting all medical insurances, including Medicaid, Medicare, and slide scale options for those without insurance. If you would like to use Care Solace to help you find a provider:

• Call 888-515-0595 (available around the clock in any language).
  
• Visit Care Solace and either search on your own OR click “Book Appointment” for assistance by video chat, email, or phone.
  

Threats to school safety can vary widely to include fires, earthquakes, nearby police activity, gas leaks, or even a wild animal roaming campus. Instead of having complicated responses that vary for incident type, our district follows the Standard Response Protocol from the "I Love U Guys" Foundation.

The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is a data-driven approach to incident response that uses five actions for schools to take: hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate, and shelter. If staff or students observe something concerning, school employees are empowered to take initiative and respond individually in implementing SRP procedures based on the information they have at the moment. Information may change, and therefore, the SRP actions might change.

Volunteering for your child’s class can make a positive impact on their school experience.

Volunteer roles vary based on the needs of each school, and there must be a specific assignment. Volunteers are most often needed for special events in and out of the classroom. The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is a top priority. To ensure a safe environment, all volunteers are required to complete an online application and volunteer background check. If you are interested in volunteering, learn more at bls.fyi/volunteer.

If you plan on visiting your child's school, don't forget your government-issued photo ID. You may be visiting for a concert, to enjoy lunch with your student, or to participate in an IEP meeting. Whatever the reason, safety procedures remain in place to keep our school community safe. All visitors must sign in at school during regular business hours using our Raptor kiosk, the digital sign-in roster. It is critical to know who is in our schools at all times, and no exceptions can be made in this process. Thank you for helping keep our school communities safe!

Stay in the loop regarding all important information. Sign up for BLConnect, an emergency alert text messaging system. Register at bls.fyi/blconnect.

Signing up for the text message alerts through BLConnect allows families to hear news and updates directly from Bend-La Pine Schools, rather than from an alternate source. The text message alerts in English or Spanish allow families to receive timely updates about school closures, lockdowns, or weather events.

The Central Oregon Suicide Prevention Alliance (COSPA) is hosting events throughout the month to promote healing and connection. Visit www.preventsuicideco.org or email bethany.kuschel@deschutes.org for details.

Join us Thursday, September 11 for the Candlelight Vigil at the Bend-La Pine Schools Education Center, 520 NW Wall Street, Bend. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., this gathering honors lives lost to suicide through stories, community-building activities, music, poetry, and a shared moment of silence.

September 7-13: National Suicide Prevention Week

September 11: Patriot Day

September 15-October 15: National Hispanic Heritage Month

September 22-24: Rosh Hashanah

Top row from left: Board Chair Marcus LeGrand, Shirley Olson, Ross Tomlin, Jenn Lynch

Bottom row from left: Cameron Fischer, Kina Chadwick, Board Vice Chair Amy Tatom

The Board of Directors for Bend-La Pine Schools will hold its next board meeting on Tuesday, September 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 520 NW Wall Street in Bend. The Board of Directors will hold a work session meeting on Tuesday, September 23 at 5:30 p.m.

For information about board members, meetings and agendas, please visit our School Board page.

Catch up on all the news from the latest School Board meetings. Click here for Dr. Cook's recaps.

Are you curious which district policies and regulations are currently under review? To see proposed changes and give feedback on new language, click here.