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EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS |
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WHAT
PARENTS NEED TO KNOW Richard K.A. Jones What
does a parent need to know and do during a school time emergency?
First, a parent needs to understand that the safety of their
children is our greatest concern. In order to ensure their safety during
an emergency, children are supervised and protected by teachers and school
staff. When a school
emergency occurs parents have several avenues to obtaining information
about the situation and the status of their children. One option is to
obtain information via the district’s web page at www.husd.com.
This address will provide information about district emergency procedures
and will link to individual school sites, which may provide more detailed
and specific emergency response information.
The district website will provide continuous emergency information
in a banner line format. Second,
email information will be sent to those families using email for
communication. Third, parents may obtain information by calling their
child’s school directly. Please understand that many parents may be
calling at the same time and delays in responding may be encountered. We
ask all families to follow these rules in times of emergency: 1)
Do not drive to school ( Emergency access is for emergency vehicles
only). We know that parents are anxious about the safety of their children
and want to be with their children as soon as possible, but if large
numbers of parents rush to the school site simultaneously it may interfere
with ability of the appropriate agencies to provide the necessary
emergency response. 2)
Do turn to local radio and TV stations for information on what to
do and where to respond in order to pick up your child. The school must
account for each child who is returned to their parents so that no child
turns up missing. Please work with your school administration in following
directions and procedures so that your children can be reunited with your
family in a safe, orderly and prompt manner. In
the upcoming months your child will begin to practice emergency procedures
during recess and or lunch periods. Evacuation
procedures including lockdown (returning to class) will be practiced. Our
training goal is to provide the best atmosphere possible for staff and
students in responding to all emergency situations. In
preparation for appropriate emergency responses all classrooms now have
detailed written emergency procedures located on wall mounted clipboards
by the classroom exit door. Every
classroom is also equipped with an emergency
“red bag”, which contains essential supplies to assist both
teacher and students during an emergency situation. The district’s first
goal is to keep all of its students safe in any emergency situation.
We believe that through education, training, practice and
experience we can achieve our goals of safe, appropriate and prompt
response to any emergency situation. If you would like to assist the
district in emergency planning or would like to support our efforts to
fully equip each school for any emergency situation, please contact the
Director of Student Services at 431-3132.
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