Emergency Response Crisis Management :: Keeping Children Safe

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Keeping Children Safe

	SHELTER IN PLACE Shelter-in-place is a temporary measure designed to use a school and its indoor atmosphere to separate students and the staff from a hazardous environment. A shelter-in-place occurs when there is a threat in the school or in the vicinity of a school. The threat may be a chemical spill or an intruder. The campus is secured. Students are kept in their classrooms under the supervision of their teacher or another adult and only authorized school and response personnel are allowed to be outside shelter areas. No visitors are allowed in or out until authorities have issued notification that the threat has been resolved. Students may be required to remain in school for an extended period of time. Students will be returned to their parents as soon as possible and that determination is made by public safety officials. The physical dynamics involved in shelter-in-place may entail the creation of neutral pressure in the school building by closing all windows and doors, shutting down heating/ventilation/air conditioning so that contaminated air will not find its way into the building. Students will not be released to parents/guardians during shelter-in-place. After the incident that caused the shelter in place is over, the schools have developed specific procedures in coordination with public safety officials to release students to their parents/guardians. These specific procedures insure that each student is accounted for and are released only to the appropriate parents/guardian.
	STOCKPILING OF FOOD AND WATER School sites maintain a limited supply of water and food.
	STUDENTS REQUIRING MEDICATION In the event an evacuation of a school becomes necessary, all medications currently at the school will be moved to the evacuation site. Parents should ensure the schools have an appropriate amount of medications on hand as well as instructions for the use of medications.
	BUS ACCIDENTS In most districts a bus accidents will result in district administrators going to the scene of the accident to insure those hurt are taken care of and all students are accounted for and determine the place and manner in which students will be released to their parents/guardians. District administrators from the transportation department may also respond to assist with alternative transportation. School personnel should also coordinate with the emergency staff to determine where children who need medical treatment will be transported. Parents should not go to the accident site.
	STUDENT ACCESS TO NEWS The school staff will limit the use of television and radio broadcasts in classrooms to avoid over exposure to media reports. Principals will use discretion in determining the appropriateness of media broadcasts in classrooms. The appropriateness of student use of individual cell phones during nonstandard classroom exigencies should also be addressed by those on the administrative levels.
	EVACUATION OF SCHOOLS Schools will not be automatically cancelled in a crisis/emergency situation. School, in many instances, is the safest place. The district should work to ensure that students are safe inside schools until the threat has passed. Parents will be informed.Every school should include an offsite evacuation site in its critical incident plan. In the event that an evacuation becomes necessary students and staff will be moved to an alternate site. Students may be held for an extended time until public safety officials determine it is safe for them to be released to their parents/guardinans.
	STUDENT RELEASE TO PARENTS Parents will be permitted to pick up their children unless public safety officials have restricted access to the school during a shelter-in-place. This restricted access will be done only when absolutely necessary and with the best interest of the students and the staff in mind. During such an event, students will only be released to those individuals authorized on the emergency card or who possess written permission from a parent or guardian. Everyone picking up students will be required to present proper identification for students to be released.
	SUMMARY Time and again it has been proven that you can't teach in an unsafe environment. If you are not prepared to expect the unexpected you are just rolling with the tide of probability. School safety began with the ubiquitous fire drill. It has evolved. The Cold War threatened us with nuclear attack. But in the wake of incidents like the 1999 Columbine school shooting and 9/11 terrorists attack, a new brand of school safety has been developed to protect students without and within their buildings. With Katrina and Rita and the Panhandle fires, students and administrators are preparing for everything. As the list of threats grows, the learning environment has become a delicate balance. Repeating the opening line in our cover letter, "school safety, in its essence, is a complicated societal issue". Be prepared.