Social, emotional, and counseling services can help identify individuals at risk and provide help to those who might be on their way toward causing harm to themselves or others. The district’s social-emotional coaches, school counselors, and psychologists play different roles in supporting young people in our schools, including conducting student risk assessments.

Please visit our emotional health support resources webpage for helpful resources.

This reporting form was created to provide another tool for our awareness of factors that impact our safe, secure, and respectful learning environments.  Concerns can be submitted anonymously via the Tip Line in the Fort Schools app.

Student bullying and reporting form can be found here.

Responses in emergencies are a critical part of the district’s safety efforts. Regular practice for team members and students helps ensure that best practices are followed automatically in the case of an actual emergency.

Fire Drills

The school will conduct one fire drill each month that school is in session in keeping with fire code requirements and state statute.

Tornado/Severe Weather Drills

The school will conduct two tornado or severe weather drills annually. Typically tornado drills will be practiced during severe weather awareness week held statewide in spring.

Active Intruder Drill

The school will conduct two drills annually. During the drill, classroom doors are secured and teacher activates options-based training. All exterior doors are locked and no one is permitted to enter or leave the building.

In the case of all drills, it is important for students and team members to practice what would happen in such a situation. It is also just as essential that student emotional well-being is considered. Team members and teachers will talk with students about what to expect and what they should do during each drill using age-appropriate language. It will also be made clear that our school is a safe place and all are encouraged to report concerns.

The Fort Atkinson Police Department assigns a full-time school resource officer to support the School District of Fort Atkinson. The officer helps prepare our schools to handle crises by

• informing crisis planning and management systems
• developing and coordinating emergency response plans
• creating protocols for handling specific emergencies
• assisting in the facilitation of emergency response exercises

In addition, the officer not only protects our schools, he or she also works to build positive connections with students.

• District Safety Committee meets regularly to review progress (includes internal and external stakeholders)
• Dedicated school resource officer through Fort Atkinson Police Department
• Designated staff trained in first aid, AED, and CPR annually
• All SDFA team members receive Options-Based training (Run, Hide, Fight)

• External audits conducted of district safety and security processes
• National background checks conducted for criminal history and sex offender registry for all employees and volunteers
• Local law enforcement real-time access to camera footage
• Emergency drills regularly conducted including fire drills, lockdown, and tornado
• Communication infrastructure for alerting staff, parents, and administrators via email, SMS (text), phone
• Public Address system for alerting staff and students

• Video surveillance on all campuses
• AED accessibility
• Crisis response and communication app 

• Buildings are secured 24/7
• Designation of a single point of entry at buildings for visitors during the school day
• FOB access to select external doors and internal doors

This occurs when normal student release is not possible because evacuation and relocation of students to an off-site shelter must be enacted. It is a controlled process where parents and/or identified emergency contacts are reunited with students after proof of identification is provided.

If reunification procedures are enacted, families of those individuals affected will be informed of pertinent details. Students will ONLY be released to parents/guardians or individuals who are documented as emergency contacts and who present a photo ID, such as a driver’s license, military ID, or passport.

Used when students are safer outside than inside the school, as in a fire or chemical spill. An evacuation would occur in a situation of imminent threat posed by remaining in the school building.

Example of a situation prompting evacuation: Smoke or fire observed in school building.

Takes place if a credible or imminent threat is identified within the building. Students and staff are locked within their current location. No educational activities take place. A move to school lockdown is reserved for a serious situation of substantiated threat.

Example of a situation prompting lockdown: Suspicious individual on campus grounds.

It is very important that you ensure that your child’s emergency contact information is accurate in PowerSchool. This information may be updated by a child's parent or guardian at any time in PowerSchool. How to update my emergency contact preferences.

Ensure that your child’s health information is accurate and updated as needed. Please contact your school office for assistance in updating health records.

• Do not call or rush to your child’s school. Telephone lines and staff are needed for emergency response efforts. Emergency personnel needs clear access to buildings.
• Do not call your child. Staff and students are discouraged from using mobile phone communication for safety reasons.
• Do not call 911 for information.
• Rely on official communication from the school or public safety officials. Visit the SDFA website for the most updated information.
• Impacted families should watch for official reunification details if reunification is required.

We are committed to keeping our school community informed of critically important matters. We work intentionally to send messages that provide clear and accurate information to our staff and families. Our goal is to provide information in a timely manner, ensuring that the information that we release is accurate.

We use multiple methods of communication. If an emergency situation should occur in any of our schools, families are encouraged to:

• Monitor email, text messages, voicemail
• Visit the district website for updates
• Visit the district’s Facebook page

Important to note: While we recognize that families may want detailed information regarding some situations, it is important to note that, according to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, schools are not allowed to share out with their school community-specific details of an incident if it includes any personally identifiable information about a student or information that a reasonable person in the community can use to identify a specific student.

If you learn of a situation at school through student text messages/phone calls or media reports, please check the District/school website for information regarding the situation. The District does not post any information until it has been fact-checked and verified. 

Be aware that all media reports/tweets and other social media posts are not always fact-checked before being published.

Please check the District/school website and/or social sites for information instead of calling the school. It is important that phone lines remain available for school personnel to stay in contact with law enforcement, first responders and the District’s response team.

Remain close to your sources of communication, whether phone or email, to ensure you are receiving accurate and timely updates from the District.

Please do not drive to school as this will only increase safety concerns for yourself and disrupt our safety protocols for students. In addition, if the building is in “secure mode,” parents will not be able to enter the building and students will not be allowed to leave.

• Listen to and acknowledge your child’s concerns.
• Provide reassurance that your child is safe.
• Seek help from school personnel or a mental health professional if needed.