Key takeaways
- Tell parents what you do to keep children safe, not the operational detail of how you would respond.
- Safe to share: the protocols you follow, drill dates, whether staff training is current, how visitors are screened, how to report a concern and what parents do during reunification.
- Keep private: floor plans, safe room and assembly locations, who holds which emergency role, response steps, security system details and anything about individual students.
- Federal guidance says to share the full plan with responders, protect it from unauthorized people, and make any public copy free of sensitive information.
- FERPA generally does not apply to private K-12 schools that receive no U.S. Department of Education funds, but student information still deserves careful handling.
The best way to communicate a school safety plan to parents is to share proof that the plan exists and is practiced (protocols, drill dates, training status, visitor screening) while keeping anything that would help someone get around the plan private. Give families a short summary, a clear role in reunification, and one official channel for updates.
By the ProtectED team. Last updated: October 2026.
Why should a school talk to parents about its safety plan?
Parents choose a small private school partly because they trust it with their children. They want to know a plan exists, and federal guidance agrees that families belong in the picture. The Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans asks schools to plan how they will communicate with families before, during and after an emergency, and to tell families about the reunification process in advance, including their own roles and responsibilities.
Clear communication also prevents rumors. The National Association of School Psychologists suggests describing drill procedures in the parent handbook and considering a social media post around drills so families are not surprised.
What school safety information is safe to share with parents?
Share information that builds confidence without revealing how a response works:
- The protocols you follow: for example, that you have written protocols for fire, lockdown, shelter-in-place, evacuation, severe weather and medical emergencies, built from federal guidance.
- Drill practice: which drill types you practice, roughly how often, and the date of the most recent drill.
- Staff training status: that staff complete safety training and how current that training is across the staff.
- Visitor screening: that every visitor checks in, is identified and is accompanied or badged.
- How to report a concern: including an anonymous option. The U.S. Secret Service’s school threat assessment guide recommends that reporting systems include a way to share information anonymously and that parents be told how to report.
- What parents do in an emergency: how the school will contact them, where official updates will appear, and what to bring to pick up a child (such as photo ID).
- When the plan was last reviewed.
What should a school never share publicly?
Some information is useful only to someone who wants to defeat the plan. Keep it out of newsletters, websites, social media and parent handbooks:
- Floor plans, maps and building schematics
- Locations of safe rooms, shelter areas, assembly points and alternate evacuation sites
- Names of staff tied to emergency roles (who leads, who locks which doors, who meets responders)
- Step-by-step lockdown, evacuation or other response procedures
- Camera locations, door hardware, alarm details and security vulnerabilities from your site assessment
- Anything about an individual student, including medical, disability or behavior information
The federal guide supports this line. It recommends sharing the full plan with first responders and others who have a role in it, warns schools to protect the plan from people not authorized to have it and to secure electronic copies, and suggests keeping a record of who received a copy. It notes that copies of the plan can be made available to the public without sensitive information.
| Share with families | Keep private |
|---|---|
| Protocols you follow | Detailed response steps |
| Drill types and date of last drill | Assembly points and alternate sites |
| Staff training status | Which staff hold which emergency roles |
| That visitors are screened | Camera, lock and alarm details |
| How to report a concern | Floor plans and schematics |
| What parents do during reunification | Reunification site locations before they are needed |
| Date the plan was last reviewed | Any information about an individual student |
One judgment call is whether to tell families the general reunification location in advance or only when it is needed. Decide that with your local responders.
Does FERPA apply to private schools?
Usually not. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office, FERPA applies to institutions that receive funds from Department programs, and private and parochial elementary and secondary schools generally do not, so they are generally not subject to FERPA.
That does not mean anything goes. State laws, other federal laws and your own enrollment agreements may still apply, so check with your counsel. The federal guide’s information sharing section also reminds schools that confusion about privacy laws can lead them to share less with responders than they are allowed to. A sound rule for any school: share student information only with people who need it to keep that child safe, and only what they need.
How should you tell parents about drills?
The 2026 drill guidance from NASP, NASRO and Safe and Sound Schools recommends notifying parents before lockdown drills and offering alternative preparation for a child who needs it, for example a child who has experienced trauma. A short note is enough:
This week we will hold a routine lockdown drill. Teachers will explain it to students calmly and in age-appropriate terms, and there will be no simulated danger. If your child may find the drill upsetting, please contact the office and we will arrange another way for them to practice.
After a drill, a one-line update (“Today we practiced our lockdown procedure. Students did well.”) reassures families without giving away detail. For drill scheduling, see how often private schools should run safety drills.
What should you tell parents during and after an emergency?
The federal guide lists questions every communications plan should answer. Adapted for a small school:
- One official channel. Tell families in advance where updates will come from, and ask them not to rely on rumors or social media.
- Regular updates. Decide how often families will hear from you during an event, even if there is nothing new.
- Language and access. Plan for families who speak other languages or have limited internet access.
- Reunification. Explain how adults will be verified before a child is released, and that students will not leave on their own.
- Media. Protect the privacy of students and families from the media.
How ProtectED helps
ProtectED gives every school a Parent Safety Page: one public link families can open any time. It shows the protocols you follow, the date of your last drill, how current your staff training is, how visitors are screened and how anyone can report a concern. Drill dates and training currency appear as real numbers, not promises. The page never shows floor plans, staff names or incident details.
ProtectED is $99 a month on a 12-month school-year plan, or $990 a year paid up front, and is parent-ready in 7 days or your money back.
Wondering what your families would see today? Take the free Safety Snapshot: about 12 minutes, no account needed, with a readiness profile across eight areas, including communication. You can also read how to write a school emergency operations plan, why staff need more than one in-service day and our school safety checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Should a school give parents a copy of its emergency operations plan? Not the full plan. Federal guidance says the full plan should go to first responders and others with a role in it, and should be protected from people who are not authorized to have it. A public version without sensitive information, plus a plain-language summary for families, is the safer approach.
What safety information can a school share with parents? The protocols you follow, when drills happen and when the last one ran, whether staff training is current, how visitors are screened, how to report a concern, how families will be contacted in an emergency, and what parents should do during reunification.
What should a school never share publicly about its safety plan? Floor plans, the locations of safe rooms and assembly areas, which staff hold which emergency roles, the specific steps of lockdown and other responses, camera and security system details, and anything about individual students.
Does FERPA apply to private schools? Generally not. The U.S. Department of Education says FERPA applies to institutions that receive funds from its programs, and that private and parochial elementary and secondary schools generally do not, so they are generally not subject to FERPA. Other laws may still apply, so check with your counsel.
Should schools tell parents before a lockdown drill? The 2026 guidance from NASP, NASRO and Safe and Sound Schools recommends notifying parents before lockdown drills and offering alternative preparation for any child who needs it.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education et al., Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (2013), hosted by the FBI.
- U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, To which educational agencies or institutions does FERPA apply?
- National Association of School Psychologists, Mitigating Psychological Effects of Lockdowns.
- NASP, NASRO and Safe and Sound Schools, Best Practice Guidance for School Safety and Lockdown Drills (April 2026).
- U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model (2018).