WBCH offers this space for area superintendents to highlight activities in their districts.This post is from Maply Valley Superintendent Michelle Falcon

 

Student Safety

The first priority in every district is to keep students and staff safe on our school grounds. These expectations include numerous procedures to ensure the safety of our students and staff on our school properties.

 

Michigan requires school to conduct 10 drills per school year: 5 fire, 2 tornado, and 3 lockdown per school year. The lockdown drills include performing security measures appropriate to an emergency "such as the release of hazardous material or the presence of a potentially dangerous individual on or near the premises." At least one of the drills must take place by December 1 and at least one after January 1. 

 

We have many unannounced drills to measure the response time of our procedures. In our training, we have been taught that people showing up during actual events of this type tend to impede the emergency evacuation. If there is an actual emergency, we will use our communication mediums to notify parents of the situation.

 

It is our goal to annually review all security plans. We also collaborate with first responders to ensure accuracy of all needed information.  This has been very successful as our district has multiple systems in place to ensure safety. Our safety plans include:

• Secure entries at each building
• Liaison Officer support
• The “Boot” mechanism providing additional level of classroom security
• Surveillance cameras installed on all school properties
• Rave Panic Button which assists emergency personnel to pinpoint location of the emergency
• Rapid response room number placards easily identifying classrooms
• Outside door numbers clearly indicating the easiest entry point from geo-fenced maps

 

We are proud in the work we have done to enhance the safety and security of our school buildings.  It takes the cooperation many people to keep our children safe. We will continue to review our processes and procedures to execute the most effective plans possible.