Safety Procedures

In an effort to enhance safety at our school, you are required to sign-in using our computer-based system, School Check-In. This program requires you to bring in a driver's license or identification and scan it every time you visit our school.

Dear Parents: 

Should an emergency or disaster situation ever arise in our area while school is in session, we want you to be aware that Socastee Elementary has made preparations to respond effectively. In fact, public schools in Horry County are built to meet stringent construction standards and they may be safer than your own home in the event of a disaster. Should we have a major disaster during school hours, your student(s) will be cared for at the school. Our school has a detailed emergency plan which has been formulated to respond to a major catastrophe. 

Your cooperation is necessary in any emergency. 

1. Do not telephone the school. Telephone lines may be needed for emergency communication. 2. In the event of a serious emergency, students will be kept at school until they are picked up by the custodial guardian or pre-arranged, responsible adult who has been identified as such in PowerSchool as the emergency contact. 
2. Check the Socastee Elementary or Horry County Schools Facebook page for updates if students are being kept at the school during an emergency. 
3. Impress upon your children the need for them to follow the directions of any school personnel in times of an emergency. 

Students will be released only to guardians or to the emergency contact listed in PowerSchool. Custodial guardians and the designated emergency contact are the only adults allowed to pick up children during an emergency. During an extreme emergency, students will be released at designated reunion areas located on school campuses. Our interior reunion area for parents will be located inside the school lobby. If we are unable to use that location, the secondary reunion area for parents will be located in the staff parking lot. Please be patient and understanding with the student release process. Please instruct your student to remain at school until you or a designee arrives. Because local telephone service may be disrupted, consider also including an out-of-state contact on the emergency card, as calls may still be made out of the area while incoming calls are affected. 

The decision to keep students at school will be based upon whether or not streets in the area are open. If streets are closed and we must hold students, our Facebook page will be updated. In the event that a natural disaster or crisis at school takes place during the time that students are being transported, students will be kept on the bus and the driver will ask for assistance through radio contact with the school. Any child who is home waiting for the bus will not be picked up (if roads are impassable) and remains the responsibility of the parent or guardian. In the event a natural disaster occurs in the afternoon, the driver will make every attempt to continue delivering the students to their homes. Should road conditions prevent the driver from delivering students to home or to school in the morning, the students will be delivered to the nearest school site and that school will communicate with the home school to inform them of the students’ whereabouts. 

Please discuss these matters with your immediate family. Planning ahead will help alleviate concern during emergencies. 

Sincerely, 

Shauna Schubiger

Principal