Safety

The safety and security of our students, employees, and community is a top priority for San José Unified. Our holistic approach to safety encompasses the three main areas below. We encourage you to review the San José Unified Safety Protocols and Emergency Response Guide to better understand our approach to safety and the terminology we use to communicate about an emergency.

View the 2026-2027 San José Unified Safety Protocols and Emergency Response Guide: English | Spanish

Building a Positive School Climate

All San José Unified schools use a culture and climate program to create a positive school climate for students, employees, and families. Building a positive school climate is a schoolwide initiative where positive expectations are integrated into all aspects of the school day. Combined with the use of social-emotional learning curriculum, the positive school climate programs establish a foundation of positive and proactive support.

Investing in Student Supports

San José Unified invests significant resources in services that support student wellbeing. We have dozens of full-time counselors assigned to campuses who provide social-emotional as well as academic support. We also partner with several outside agencies to provide additional counseling and supports for students. Centralized Student Services and Special Education teams build capacity among teachers, administrators, and other staff in addition to working directly with students. In addition, we have licensed health technicians at every school, and school nurses who coordinate care and train staff in health procedures.

Responding to Challenging Situations

Our focus on building relationships helps us support students and employees when a challenging situation or emergency arises. Situations that involve most student behavior issues are handled exclusively by school staff (with support from our Student Services team, when needed). When required by the circumstances and/or law, school staff may call the San José Police Department, the San José Fire Department, and/or other emergency responders for assistance. Effective emergency response requires training for students and staff, safety plans that govern the appropriate response, and strong leadership to determine the best response to the situation. All San José Unified schools use a variety of strategies and techniques to ensure students and staff are well prepared for emergencies, as discussed in each school's Comprehensive School Safety Plan (CSSP).

Emergency Communication Summary for Parents 

San José Unified prioritizes student and staff safety during emergencies. 

We share verified information through channels like ParentSquare, email, text, and phone as soon as possible, including the school's status, details of the incident, and the emergency response actions taken. Please ensure your contact details are updated in ParentSquare. In certain situations, law enforcement may lead the investigation, manage the actions taken, and decide what information can be shared.

Important Terms to Know: 

• Lockdown: Active threat on campus; students follow Run, Hide, Defend procedures. 

• Shelter-in-Place: External threat nearby, but school continues indoors. 

• Evacuation: Students and staff move to designated safe areas. 

• Reunification: Location and time where families can pick up children after an emergency. 

• Non-credible Threat: Threat determined to be false after investigation. 

How You Can Help During an Emergency - To support our staff, we ask that you: 

• Wait to call or visit the school until we notify you that the emergency is over. 

• Refrain from texting or calling your child during an emergency, as it may distract them. 

• Follow instructions about picking up your child, especially if the emergency happens near dismissal time. 

After an Emergency - After an incident, check in with your child, avoid spreading unverified information, and appreciate the staff’s efforts to keep everyone safe. If your child needs support, let school staff know so they can access counseling services. 

We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we work together to keep our students safe. 

Support for Immigrant Students and Families

San José Unified is committed to ensuring that all students, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, have access to a safe, welcoming, and inclusive educational environment. As reaffirmed on August 20, 2026, San José Unified will support students and families experiencing fear, disruption, or other impacts related to immigration enforcement, protect the privacy and dignity of students and families, safeguard information regarding students and their families consistent with state and federal law, and protect students’ access to school, learning, and San José Unified programs and services.

Comprehensive School Safety Plan

California Education Code 32280-32289.5 outlines the requirements for the Comprehensive School Safety Plan (CSSP), which must be reviewed and updated each year by all California public schools. Many components of the CSSP, such as emergency protocols, are developed and updated by San José Unified district staff, who coordinate responses to safety-related issues across each of San José Unified’s schools, in consultation with other agencies, including the San José Police Department and San José Fire Department. These components are shared in the CSSP template provided to schools for their completion. The CSSP also contains an overview of how the school implements its holistic approach to safety.

The CSSP is a public document reviewed and updated by the Schoolsite Council (SSC). Each school holds a public meeting to provide interested members of the public with the opportunity to express an opinion about their CSSP before they adopt their annual update.

Each school's current CSSP and any upcoming CSSP-related meeting information can be found on its website. All school websites are accessible here: https://www.sjusd.org/schools.

Public meeting dates for San José Unified schools during the 2026-2027 school year are below.