Standards in place to ensure student, staff safety at all times
Keeping students safe at school continues to be a top priority in School District 54. All 27 of our schools have a comprehensive Standardized School Crisis Plan in place and are well prepared to handle an emergency situation if one should occur. These plans were developed cooperatively with the five police and fire departments that serve our schools, local village officials and our neighboring school districts.
The Standardized School Crisis Plan includes consistent guidelines to help schools prevent, prepare for and respond to an emergency or crisis situation. The goals are to: Make safety a part of the daily school routine; protect students and staff members; and provide a safe and coordinated response to an emergency situation.
District 54's plan was modeled after the Standardized School Crisis Plan that was developed in the Village of Mount Prospect several years ago. The support of Fire Chief Mike Figolah and Cristina Park was instrumental in helping us create and implement this plan throughout our school community. In coordination with our local police and fire departments, District 54 is better prepared to handle an emergency or crisis in a proactive, calm and consistent manner.
Our plan complies with federal, state and local emergency and disaster protocols. It includes the four phases of effective emergency management: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Visible in every classroom is a Standardized School Crisis Plan flip chart which outlines the procedures that we follow for soft lockdowns, hard lockdowns, evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place and medical emergencies.
The benefits of a Standardized School Crisis Plan are many, the greatest being consistency in how we communicate and respond. During the soft lockdown that occurred several weeks ago, we received several questions asking where the term originated. As the Standardized School Crisis Plan was developed, it was recommended that National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliant language be used. Using this language enables everyone involved to better understand what is occurring in a given situation and how to respond during a potential threat to the safety of students and staff.
A soft lockdown simply means that students remain inside the school and continue with normal classroom activities. No one is permitted to enter the building unless they are escorted by a staff member. This differs from a hard lockdown where students remain in their locked classrooms and no one is permitted to enter or leave the school.
School districts across the Northwest suburbs that have implemented this type of Standardized School Crisis Plan work very closely with local police and fire departments to determine what type of response is needed to address the situation at hand. Close communication and coordination determine the response that a district or a particular school will take. Many factors are considered. These include the type of situation that is taking place, proximity to a particular school, safety of students, and information that may be known only by police and fire department personnel.
The specific situation that is taking place determines the response that is taken. For example, a high school may implement a soft lockdown because their students have the option of leaving the campus during the school day for lunch and work study experiences. An elementary district, in collaboration with the police department, may determine that it is not necessary to implement a soft lockdown because our students remain on the school campus throughout the day.
District 54's Standardized School Crisis Plan provides an improved dimension of school safety that provides consistency in all 27 of our schools. We would like to thank our local police and fire departments, village officials and neighboring school districts for their help in creating our plan. Their efforts have already paid great dividends for our students, families and staff members. We have never been better prepared.