Emergency Reunion Station

Overview

The previous plan for emergency situations/natural disasters had a very short, vague component dedicated to the Parent/Student Reunion Station.  This is the structure/protocol set in place in the event that parents/guardians need to come to the school site to re-unite and pick up their students after an evacuation of classes has taken place and the school is on lockdown.  While the plan gave some general information to the faculty and staff on what the procures should be, there was a dire need to update the plan and include more detailed information.

My Role

After receiving and reviewing the Emergency Parent/Student Reunion Station element of the disaster plan, it was evident that a lot more detail needed to be included in addition to the 5 general bullet points that were provided.  I first spoke with the Assistant Principal who is in charge of the plan in order to get his input and feedback as to what he felt was lacking, after having gone through several practice drills with students and faculty/staff.  The next step was to research Reunion Station Protocols of other schools in order to explore additional ideas and or concerns/issues that may not be apparent as I began this process.

After researching and taking into account all of the A.P.'s input, I created a new Reunion Station Plan/Protocol that gives detailed information on how to set-up and "man" the station along with detailed policies and protocols.  This information includes:

• A new location of the Reunion Station, more conducive to parent pick-up
• A detailed list of personnel needed
• A list of all necessary supplies to set up and run the station
• A detailed set-up procedure
• A detailed 3- step protocol for reuniting students with their parent/guardian that details how to proceed from when the parent arrives at the station to when the student is released to them

Previous Plan (last 5 pts)              Pg. 1/ 2 of New Emergency Reunion Station Plan

Reflection

Before embarking on this project, I had seen the procedure for the Reunion Station on several occasions, both when looking at revised copies of the emergency plan provided to us yearly, as well as during emergency and disaster drills.  Every time I saw the protocol I was grateful to not be assigned to the station, as it seemed very unclear as to what to do specifically when a parent arrives to pick up their student.  Because of the lack of detail in the plan, it seemed like it would be extremely chaotic and not a very conducive protocol to reducing stress and concern for alls take holders during an extremely tense and nerve-wracking time.  While revising the plan it became clear to me that it's almost impossible to plan for every potential scenario in such a situation as questions began to arise such as what happens if someone assigned to the station is off campus that day?  What happens if the area for the Reunion station is inaccessible due to the emergency/disaster?, etc.  I finally came to the understanding that there might be something that doesn't go as planned, especially during an emergency and that there is no possible way to plan for all of the unknown variables.  while this does cause some stress, I also realized that with a well thought-out plan and procedure, teachers and staff will have the tools to make the best possible decisions on how to adapt when an unexpected scenario occurs.  I also feel after revising the plan, that it would be a very systematic position to be in if one is assigned to the Reunion Station and one that I would not "fear" begin assigned to anymore.  My hope is that other faculty/staff will find the plan user-friendly and feel competent enough to work the station if they are ever assigned to it.

CPSEL Connection

CPSEL3: Ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

• 3.1 Ensure a safe school environment
• 3.4 Monitor and evaluate the program and staff

CPSEL 4: Collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.

• 4.1 Collaborate to incorporate the perspective of families and community members
• 4.2 Establish and manage linkage between the site and the larger community context