Emergency Response and Crisis Management

Kathy Aders

Project Manager

415 N. 30th Street

Billings, MT 59101

adersk@billings.k12.mt.us

Billings Public Schools has recently developed a new set of policies and procedures for Emergency Response and Crisis Management.  The project was funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.  The policies and procedures were developed in partnership with our local Emergency Responders and the State and Local Departments of Emergency Services.  Billings Public School administrators, teachers, and staff have all received training on the new procedures and continue to participate in practice drills and exercises. Although it is important for us to be prepared for emergencies at school, we also recognize the importance of planning and preparing for emergencies at home.  

Important Information for Parents in Case of an Emergency

REMEMBER...Schools will do whatever they feel necessary to keep the students safe.

  • Always fill out the Student Information Forms that are sent home from school with your child. The information on these forms will be used in emergencies. (Please note that only those people listed on the forms will be allowed to pick up your child at a Parent/Student Reunification.)
  • Always inform your child's school of any phone number changes, as the numbers on the forms will be the numbers called in an emergency. If you do not fill in a phone number, communication between you and the school may be delayed. It is especially helpful to identify which two phone numbers you want called first, as these numbers will be used by our district's computerized telephone system.
  • Always notify the school of any pertinent health information about your child. This information will be helpful if your child is in need of emergency medical attention.
  • Refrain from going directly to your child's school during an emergency, until you are notified that it is safe to do so. Although this is a parent's first instinct, several extra panicking people will disrupt the response procedure that the staff and students have been trained to follow, possibly creating additional safety hazards for everyone involved.
  • Do not attempt to take your child from a line that is walking to another location. This action will disrupt the procedure and interfere with student accountability at the relocation site. Instead, follow the instructions you receive on where to meet your child.
  • When arriving at a Parent/Student Reunification station, always have a picture ID ready to show. Although many school staff will recognize you, there may be volunteers who are helping with this process. Please share this information with any person you've listed as having permission to pick up your child.
  • Most importantly...remember that most of the school staff are also parents themselves and truly care about all of their students as if they were their own.

General Information Regarding School Preparedness
The Billings Public Schools have been preparing to respond more quickly and effectively to multiple emergency situations that could become a possibility during the school day. These response procedures have been designed to keep our students and staff as safe as possible. Please familiarize yourself with these terms as we continue to educate everyone about protocols and procedures.

SHELTER IN PLACE: A designated place within a building or your home that will keep a person safe from something harmful on the outside, such as chemical spills, explosions, dangerous people, and/or dangerous weather. An action whereby you are encouraged to go inside, stay inside, close windows and doors, turn off ventilation systems and listen to radio or television for emergency information. This is normally done for toxic chemical clouds and/or dangerous weather.

EVACUATION: To actually get out of a place where it is unsafe to remain, such as with a fire, gas leak, chemical spill, physical damage to a building and/or a bomb threat.

LOCKDOWN: The actual locking of doors so you can cover (hide) or conceal (protect yourself) from something harmful on the outside, such as a person with a weapon.

RELOCATION: Going to a predetermined place after evacuating.

PARENT/STUDENT REUNIFICATION: A procedure designed to safely and effectively account for and release students to a parent, guardian or other individual identified to take the student.

PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY AND EXPECTED BEHAVIOR DURING A PARENT/STUDENT REUNIFICATION: All students, staff and parents will be safer if everyone understands, prepares for and follows the procedure for a Parent/Student Reunification.

All staff and students are educated and trained to stay with their group and follow the instructions of a school authority. This is to ensure that everyone is accounted for several times during the emergency. Please do not put your child in an uncomfortable position by asking them to ignore these rules. Unnecessary time can be spent looking for a student or dealing with a parent that is not following the procedure, interfering with the safety and well-being of everyone. If there is an emergency or crisis at your child's school, our district's computerized telephone system will be activated to call you with specific information you will need to know. This information might include a location and time for you to pick up your child. Please do not go directly to your child's school during an emergency until you are notified that it is safe to do so. Although this is a parent's first instinct, several extra panicking people will disrupt the emergency responders and the response procedure that the staff and students have been trained to follow, possibly creating additional safety hazards for everyone involved.

If a Parent/Student Reunification needs to be activated by the school, parents will need to:

  1. Report to the location given on the phone message.
  2. Report to the parent check-in location. (There will be signs.)
  3. Request student to be released and show identification. (Volunteers may be assisting with the procedure, and might not know you.) This is for the safety of your child.
  4. A staff person will check your ID and initiate a form/paperwork to begin the process. (If a non-parent comes to pick up a student, their name must be listed as a person the parent gave permission to at the beginning of the school year.)
  5. Parent will be instructed to proceed to the release area. (There will be signs.)
  6. A staff person will check your ID again and ask you to sign out the student, before they are able to leave with you.

Every attempt will be made to make this procedure go as quickly and orderly as possible. Everyone's safety and well-being depend on it.

MORAL AND LEGAL OBLIGATIONS
On a daily basis, parents entrust schools with the safety, health and well-being of their children. Once a student steps on campus, the school is morally and legally responsible for that child until they are picked up by a parent or returned home by bus. This responsibility remains, through a Parent/Student Reunification and even when disaster strikes and circumstances require schools to keep students beyond the normal school day.