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Districts across the country work with organizations to prepare for crisis situations, everything from evacuations to school violence. Eugene District 4J recently worked with the I Love U Guys Foundation to train on parent reunifications.
Preparing for a crisis. A top priority for the 4J School District, in partnership with Raptor Technologies. The district is getting hands-on experience in parent reunification methods.
“Eugene School District is like any other district in the nation and we’re not immune to the school violence occurring here on our campuses,” says Kari Skinner, Safety and Security Director. “We need to be prepared. Our teachers, our staff, our administrators, our district officials, we all need to be prepared. Parents expect it and demand it. Students are our most precious commodity and we need to ensure that we care for them when they’re in our schools.”
Thanks to a federal safety grant, the district hired the I Love U Guys Foundation. These experts focus on post-crisis reunification in more than 30,000 school districts.
The foundation was created after the 2006 Platte Canyon shootings. John-Michael and Ellen Keyes lost their daughter, Emily to an active shooter. Her last words over text to them: “I love you guys”. They’ve turned their pain into prevention through these trainings.
“So the fact that 4J is having these discussions, is having these conversations tells me that they’re taking school safety serious,” says Chris Zimmerman, I Love U Guys trainer. “And with that starting point, I think we can always grow. Every day.
It’s a two day training. The first day focuses on technologies and techniques for all types of crisis. The second day, the safety tape goes up, while teachers and administrators reenact a reunification down to that last hug.
“When students feel safe at school, they’re able to learn. And ultimately, that’s what we want for our kids,” says Zimmerman.
“Really helpful to have common language, clear protocols in place where we can communicate with students, families and staff,” says Sun Saeteurn, Monroe Middle School principal. “The more hands-on opportunity we have not only here, but as we take it to our staff and our community and our students, the better.”
I think for parents who are uncertain, or who don’t see the behind-the -scenes work, and I think I feel really comfortable moving into the fall to be very explicit in terms of ‘Here are the things that I’m doing as a building principal, our district is doing to support student safety,'” says Courtney Leonard, Roosevelt Middle School principal.
During the training, staff turned to an app created by Raptor Technologies that allows teachers to call a lockdown and communicate the locations of students, expediting the process.
“The Raptor software systems are used in real emergencies every day, both ones that you know about and smaller ones, more day-to-day incidents,” says Katelyn Warnock, Raptor Professional Services Manager. “And what we find is that people who implement this with fidelity, like Eugene 4J, it really does save lives. You’re sending out notifications and people are able to lock their doors proactively before something were to come into the school. Partnering with Eugene 4J has been unlike anything we’ve seen before. Eugene has three different pieces of our software, so they really have that full spectrum.”
“And while we have these worldly events occurring with violence, we’re not going to let that stop what our primary mission is: to educate children,” says Skinner. “We’re going to create a fun environment that’s healthy and safe. And with that comes pre-planning missions. And that’s what we’re working on with Eugene School District 4J.”
The district says this is just a first step and hopes to partner on additional trainings in the future.
This has been a public service of the 4J School District and NBC 16.
