Michael Bennett, Superintendent of Schools, hosted the third annual School Safety Night on Wednesday, September 25. Eight members of the school community were in attendance.
Mr. Bennett shared that last year, the District's main focus was establishing the same safety practices across campus to ensure continuity. This year, he said, the focus is on training. After going over the safety changes that were highlighted in his September message to parents, he premiered the District's first-ever "Safety Training Video." The goal of the video is to provide more information to students, staff, and families on what to do in an emergency at school. A quick-reference guide is also available on the District's safety webpage.
Questions from those in attendance and responses are listed below:
Q: What if a student is late and is arriving as a lockdown happens?
The blue lights will automatically begin flashing and we will manually change the digital sign out front to display a "lockdown" message. If a student is outside, they should return to their vehicle or self-evacuate, following outdoor lockdown procuedures.
Q: Is a student expected to call 911 when a lockdown happens?
This question was asked in reference to the directive in the video to call 911 after a self-evacuation during a lockdown. No, a student is not expected to call 911 when a lockdown is called. The video directs students who "self-evacuate" to get to a safe location, and call 911 to let them know their location. While we have other procedures in place to locate students who self-evacuate, calling 911 will allow us to locate them more quickly.
Q: Has the District considered putting in landline-phones around campus that could be used when students self-evacuate in a lockdown?
This question was asked in reference to the directive in the video to call 911 after a self-evacuation during a lockdown. In a lockdown, we want students to get to a safe location. We do not want them to congregate on campus, out in the open. We have not looked into installing these landline-phones, as they could easily become a target for someone looking to do harm in a lockdown situation.
Q: Do all bathrooms lock?
Not yet, but soon. We're working on installing the same swipe system on bathroom doors that we have in the classrooms so that when a lockdown is called, the doors automatically lock.
Q: Are there talks of a reunification drill happening?
Yes, this is something we're working with Questar III on. This is something that takes a lot of coordination, and something we're trying to work out the logistics for.
Q: How many drills do we conduct per year?
The elementary school and the middle/high school each conduct a minimum of 8 evacuation and 4 lockdown drills per year.
Thank you to everyone who was in attendance. School safety night is held every September to give parents and community members an opportunity to learn more about District safety practices and to ask questions.