Oakdale Unified outlines threat-response protocols as parents press for faster notification

District staff provided a detailed briefing on how the Oakdale Joint Unified School District assesses and responds to threats, then answered parent concerns about timeliness of notifications.

Catherine Medin, presenting the safety protocols, said the district treats different threat types — verbal, written, physical and cyber — seriously and that "our district will consider all types of threats as credible and any threat will be investigated immediately." She cited applicable education-code provisions referenced in the presentation and described how law enforcement and school staff coordinate: if law enforcement deems a threat credible, parents will be notified and schools may implement lockdowns, evacuations or other safety measures.

Medin also pointed parents to the district's 'Stop It' anonymous-reporting app and reviewed recommended reporting steps and contact points for immediate threats.

Parents pushed for clearer notification practices. Sarah Jones said parents should be able to decide whether to keep their children home and asked for earlier information when threats are reported, explaining that some families discovered an incident only after their students had already been at school. Multiple parents described delays or inconsistent phone notifications following a recent incident, and asked the district to ensure direct outreach instead of relying solely on email.

Why it matters: Timely notification affects parents' ability to protect and account for their children and to make informed decisions; the public comments highlighted gaps between policy and practice for communicating with families.

Next steps: District staff offered to follow up with parents individually and reiterated that reporting the incident through formal channels will trigger the established investigative sequence. The board did not change policy during the meeting but staff said they would continue to refine notification processes.