School Safety is a HUGE priority for our district.  Because of this we have a yearly meeting with Emergency Responders to review our plans, discuss our drills for said plans, and explore ways to increase our communication.  For example it was after one of these meetings we purchased radios that allow us to monitor the bus channel, the police channel, the fire channel, each building's internal channel, as well as an emergency channel.  No matter which channel you are listening to at the time an Emergency Channel call will override and all channels will hear it.  In an emergency, communication is key allowing those needed to respond.  We had our meeting today as we look forward to another great year, and I once again got to thinking about being prepared.

As we start this new year we will be reminding our students about our drills and the safety procedures.  I suggest all families do the same.  Here are a list of things I believe every family should also do prior to the start of the school year.

• Review with your children your evacuation plans in case of fire.  Do you have a family meeting place?  My family will meet at the mailbox should a travesty occur that forces us all out of the house.

• Review with your children your plan for storms and tornados.  Have them help you ensure that space in the basement or bathroom has a flashlight, water, and other possible items you would need.  

• Make sure that you have current contact information with your child’s school.  And have an emergency number as a back up.  I know with Cell Phones we feel a backup is unnecessary, but things happen and I have seen too often the backup number being needed.

• Should something happen after school is there a neighbor your child knows they can go to?  This can be beneficial when storms are coming and we have to dismiss early.  

This is not an exhaustive list of things you need to do, but merely suggestions.  I will tell you that your children, our students, are too important not to spend a little time to keep them safe.  We just completed our safety review and will be conducting drills as soon as we get back into school.  

More information can be found at  http://www.redcross.org/prepare/location/home-family