This year the State of Michigan has instituted two new emergency response drills in addition to ten fire and severe weather drills for all public school districts. These new emergency response drills are intended for schools to practice lock-down procedures in response to any exterior or interior intruder threat and are addressed in our school crisis response plan.
We are all highly aware of the most recent cases of school violence across our nation. It is important for a school district to anticipate and prepare for any type of incident. Our intent is not to alarm our students but to prepare them to respond when we initiate a lcck down. Just as our students have learned how to properly respond to fire and severe weather alarms, they also need to be aware of this added incident response.
Over the next few weeks our teachers will be discussing the lock down procedure. We will instruct students in an age appropriate way how they are to respond when we receive the lock down code over the school’s P.A. system. We will stress to students that there are very rare occasions when schools need to be locked down and that their safety is our number one concern. After every classroom has had this discussion we will conduct our first lock down drill. We will use this drill to assess our response and to review our procedures.
The district works very closely with our local law enforcement agencies. They advise us on our safety plans and help train us in our responses. Working together creates not only better responses but can in many instances successfully address any situation before it happens.
I will inform you after we conduct our first lock down drill. You are encouraged to have follow-up discussions with your students about the new lock down procedures and help to reassure them that events necessitating this response are rare occurrences.
If you have any questions about the new lock down drill or our school’s crisis plan please don’t hesitate to contact me.
