In this month's issue explore ways to keep your school safe and choosing joy this school year!
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Friend,
September is National Emergency Preparedness Month, and it couldn’t be more timely. We’re just a few days into September, and unexpected weather and fire emergencies have disrupted everyday life for millions of people, and forced school closures are present yet again.
Communities across California, Florida, and Hawaii are still grappling with the aftermath of the unusual events that unfolded over the past few weeks.
Events like the ones we saw last month are a stark reminder that we are all vulnerable to natural disasters, and sometimes even to ones that seem implausible. At schools, this can be daunting, especially when the threat of human-caused emergencies still looms large.Thinking about these together may make the job of preparing for emergencies feel like an uphill – even impossible – climb. But it also presents an opportunity. An opportunity to see the common threads of emergencies, and weave them together through thoughtful planning, clear communication, and effective emergency leadership. (More on this in our recent blog post reflecting on the Maui wildfires.) It’s an opportunity to think about how to protect the people on your campus at the same time that we safeguard our facilities – the HVAC units, buses, tech, etc. that help our school run smoothly and safely (in case you missed it, we covered this in detail on our August 21st webinar) and it’s an opportunity to engage your teams in a conversation about the need to be prepared for anything, including the invaluable role they play in emergency response.
As we enter this Emergency Preparedness Month, I would encourage each of us to take a step back and think about how we evaluate risk, look at the plans we have in place to respond, and continue to have honest conversations about how our emergency preparedness programs can be improved this year. If you need a partner in this effort, our door is always open.
If you have ever heard Cat Cecere present on our bi-weekly webinars, you know she is a school safety expert with an unmatched ability to help schools think thoughtfully and comprehensively about protecting their community. But what you may not know is that she’s also a mom of two kids, and her parenthood journey has deepened her passion for safety.
This month on our school safety blog, Cat shareshow she thinks about mass violence from a parent’s perspective, and what she views as the most important lessons parents can learn and lean on. Whether you’re a fellow parent or someone who cares about kids’ safety, it’s worth a read.
New Resource! Safety Committees and Advanced Planning
Whether you’re enhancing your current safety committee or considering adding a safety committee for the first time, our new toolkit is an invaluable resource to guide you! It’s full of information to help you learn how to establish – or maximize – your safety committee.
Save the Date: September 18th Speaker Series with Michael Robinson
Please join us on Sept 18th with special guest Michael Robinson for an important conversation focused on safety committees and the critical role they play in school safety!
All Clear! Pre-order Chris Joffe’s Upcoming Book
Since the early days of the pandemic, Chris has been working to capture a catalog of stories and lessons from his work with schools in crisis over the past 10 years. Now, he’s compiled them into a new book set to be published by Jossey-Bass this November! The book, All Clear: Lessons from a Decade Managing School Crises, is designed to offer school leaders and administrators practical guidance and key principles for keeping schools safe and thriving. Pre-order a copy today on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or a local Indy book store!
Question: “My school is pretty confident on how to run drills (specifically fire/evacuation, lockdown, and a few other ones that at this point have become muscle memory). Are there any other drills we should be doing for meaningful practice? " - Operations leader at a Colorado-based school
Answer from Emma Johnson, Joffe Safety Consultant
The short answer is… yes! Many of the schools we work with are in a similar situation and feel that they have a solid handle on basic drills. But few have practiced the one drill that will be deployed in almost every major emergency situation: reunification.
Reunification is the process of handing students back over to their families at the conclusion of an emergency
(basically, the emergency version of dismissal). It sounds simple enough, but what makes it complex is that in emergencies where evacuation is required, or where students have been taken off-site for their safety, or where a search and rescue was conducted, there are pretty significant logistical complications (which are, of course, layered with lots of complex emotions as well). So, like anything, practicing this process helps enormously. It helps people understand what to expect, gives staff an opportunity to learn the protocol in a low-stakes environment, and lets parents and students experience a reunification-style dismissal when emotions aren’t so high.
If you’re unsure where to start, check out our Roadmap to Reunification toolkit! It’s a great resource that’s specifically designed to help schools take key steps to build up to a full-scale reunification drill. And, as always, feel free to reach out to our team with any specific questions!