Welcome to the March edition of Brooke’s Safety Spotlight! As usual, I am using this space to dive deeper into some of the emergency preparedness measures employed by LWSD, as well as some relevant information, tips, and resources. First, this month our school administrators will be focused on school level reunification as one of their monthly drills. Reunification in its simplest form is the phrase used to reunite a student and their parent/caregiver/emergency contact following a natural or human-made disaster. As I mentioned in the September Safety Spotlight, it is absolutely critical to routinely update your emergency contacts for your children in Skyward (even if they are older and may drive or walk to school). This is absolutely critical so that staff can quickly reach contacts while also reducing both response time and stress while providing timely support for students. Prioritize neighbors, friends, family members, colleagues, parents/caregivers of classmates, teammates, etc. so that there are a lot of options. Make sure that emergency contacts that are out of town are either listed much lower on the list or not included at all. It may also be helpful to add “not local” or “out of town” in the comments section for those contacts in Skyward to streamline the process (go to Family Access and update online forms – see more info here). Please, please, please remember that during emergencies school staff are legally required to follow procedures, including releasing children ONLY to parents/caregivers and individuals listed as emergency contacts. Providing identification at pick up is a critical part of this process, regardless of how well staff know you and/or what pick-up is like on a typical day.
During reunification, LWSD personnel will prioritize student and staff safety, whereabouts, and well-being. Their objective is to ensure that every student still in the school’s control is reunited with a parent/caregiver/emergency contact. This could look and feel different depending on if it is a reunification for a violent or non-violent event, as well as if it is an on-site or off-site reunification (i.e., not the school itself but a nearby location that is deemed safe given the threat and/or crisis at hand). It is important to read and adhere to any and all instructions sent out by the district. I assure you that there is a procedural, legal, or functional reason for every decision they make and every instruction they give. Also, please review your settings in ParentSquare to ensure you are receiving messages in the modalities and frequency that you would like (log in, click on your name/profile on top right if you are on the website and then Manage Account > Notification Settings but if you are in the app, then go to the lefthand side, Account > Notifications).
Finally, I would like to leave you with a very honest personal reflection. Last spring, I had the distinct “pleasure” of witnessing firsthand a reunification during a power outage. To be frank, I was frustrated at the disrespectful attitude of many parents/caregivers. For those who may not remember, this was not an “emergency” and there was no threat to any child. It was a very low-stakes reunification and, honestly, a terrific way for the district to practice this critical drill. While I recognize that it was very inconvenient to have to pick up a child from school unexpectedly, there was no threat and, thus, individuals had no reason to be rude, short, or demanding and/or to attempt to circumvent instructions from staff. Please let us all remember to use kindness and compassion when interacting with the people who we literally trust with our children’s futures and lives. Thank you for reading. Feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns, and/or ideas. President@lwptsa.net