On Campus Intervention (OCI)

Q: What should I do if I have an urgent need for a Safety Officer, e.g. there’s a fight in my classroom?

A:

  • Plan A: Call On Campus Intervention (OCI) at x 48985
  • Plan B: Call the Front Desk at x 44593
  • Plan C: Send a student to get a Safety Officer (see locations below)

 
Q: What should I do if I have an urgent need before or after school?

A:

  • Call the main office. They will contact the administrator that is on duty.
  • If you cannot get a hold of anyone and it is an emergency, call 911.

Q: If I send a student to OCI but don’t have time to write an online referral because I’m in the middle of class, how best can I communicate to OCI staff the urgency or severity of the situation?

A: The best option is to send a very brief email to OCI (bhs_oci@berkeley.net) or to call OCI at extension 48985 and then follow up with the online referral later. It is important to notify OCI if a student is sent out of class so that OCI can follow up if the student does not actually come to OCI as directed. Please send the follow up information by the end of the day so OCI and administrators have the information they need to follow up.

Q: What are my responsibilities as a teacher when issuing a referral?

A:

  • Contact OCI immediately by calling OCI or send a brief email. Please submit an online referral which is important for documentation reasons.
  • If you are concerned that the student will not report to OCI, contact OCI and let them know to send a Safety Officer.
  • Follow up with a phone call home to the parent/guardian to notify them of the student’s behavior. It is imperative that parents/guardians be informed when their child is missing class due to behavior issues. Please call home ASAP and always within 24 hours. Follow up with an email and feel free to copy your administrator or the Dean of Students.
  • Submit an online referral to OCI ASAP and always within 24 hours.

Q: What’s the best way to fill out a referral so that I know it gets entered into the system in a timely manner?

A: 

Q: Will my referral be entered exactly as I wrote it? If not, how will it be logged in a fair and impartial manner?

A: Yes, referrals will be entered exactly as they are written by the teacher. When there is a significant difference in perspective between the student and the teacher, the referral entry may also include a statement to the effect of , “Student reports/alleges…” Be aware that the referral is viewable by the parent/guardian.

Note: It is important to be as specific in your language when writing a referral as possible—e.g. rather than write that a student “was disruptive”, describe the specific, observable, behavior that was disruptive to learning.

Q: How will I know how my referral was addressed? When will I know that?

A: If you submit an online referral, you can expect an email response from OCI staff within 48 hours.

Q: What happens if a sub writes a referral? 

A: If a sub submits a referral, they should let you know. If this is a concern, please let the sub know to do this in your sub plans. Follow-up by sending an email to OCI to find out more information about consequences.

Q: If I send a student to OCI, can they be returned to class without communicating with me first?

A: OCI staff will NEVER send a student back to class during the same period without a teacher’s explicit permission. You do have the ability to suspend the student from your class for that day and possibly the next day.

It is worth noting that sometimes students show up in OCI who haven’t been sent there by a teacher. These students are typically sent back to class. OCI staff WILL NOT give them a pass to class. Staff will redirect the student back to their assigned class for that period.

Q: How does OCI deal with students who receive repeated referrals?

A: BHS administration and OCI staff utilize a progressive discipline system including a series of specific consequences and interventions that escalate for students who receive multiple referrals. Consequences include lunch detentions, mandatory parent meetings, in-school suspension, and in extreme cases, formal suspension. Interventions include meetings with administrators or counselors, participating in restorative justice, community service, referrals to mental health, ATOD, and other counseling programs, and more.

Updated 06-2024