Ponder Independent School District is committed to providing a safe environment for students, staff, and visitors. We work closely with our first responders in order to ensure our schools are well prepared for an emergency. We are developing and reviewing our comprehensive plan that covers a wide variety of emergencies and serves as a guide to help staff, and our public safety partners, respond swiftly should a crisis occur in our schools. 

The plan is updated annually.  The plan prepares our staff and students for action and establishes teams, chains of command, and specific steps to take in an emergency situation.

It is important to understand that Ponder ISD’s first priority will be to ensure the safety of the students and staff and we will initiate our communications plan as soon as we have accurate information. Emergencies can develop rapidly and change frequently. We work with our first responders to ensure the message we send is correct and does not compromise any aspect of the situation.

The plan includes crisis communications.

The communication goal during any incident is to get the:

• Right information to the
• Right people at the
• Right time so they can make the
• Right decisions and issue the
• Right communications

As part of the plan, each campus practices fire, evacuation, reverse evacuation, exterior lockdown, full lockdown, safe shelter and bad weather drills throughout the year. This allows our district administrators to be sure that faculty/staff and students know the correct procedures in the event of an emergency.

 As a district we have several programs in place to help ensure the safety and security of all stakeholders:

1. Safety Cameras located throughout the district. 

2. ID badges for all Ponder ISD employees and visitors.

3. Visitor checkin software

4. Safety drills

5. Secure entry points at all campuses.