Superintendent Message
By Dr. Brenda Krage, Superintendent
There is no doubt that school safety is an important topic. We take the responsibility of keeping students, staff and visitors to our schools very seriously. Each year we review our standard response protocols specific to crisis management, train our staff and practice with our students. This year we are making a concerted effort to update and improve our reunification protocols. In case you are wondering what is reunification, allow me to explain.
We follow the “I love U Guys” Standard Response Protocol. One critical aspect of crisis response is accountable reunification of students with their parents or guardians in the event a controlled release is necessary. Following a standard reunification method provides school and district safety teams proven methods for planning, practicing and achieving a successful reunification.
Crisis recovery starts with the crisis, not after. Simply “winging it” when reuniting ignores not only the mental health demands that accompany a crisis, but he responsibility of the school and district to maintain the chain of custody for every student. A predetermined, practiced reunification method ensures the reunification process will not further complicate what is probably already a chaotic, anxiety-filled scene. In fact, putting an orderly reunification plan into action will help defuse emotion escalating at the site.
For parents the process will look like this: parents will be notified that a reunification process will be initiated, students will be delivered to a staging area, once students are on-site parents will be notified of the check-in location for reunification, staff ‘greeters’ will be on-hand to assist parents with the process, parents will complete a reunification card, a different staff member ‘reunifer’ will retrieve the student and deliver him/her to the parent. Flow and lines are controlled by managing the student and parent experience. Parents can help by following the process as directed by the school and district.
Again, we all have the same objective for a safe, calm, and orderly reunification of students with their parent or guardian. Safe schools with positive educational environments is one of the five expectations of the Platte Canyon Board of Education.
