Prevent, Prepare, Respond, Recover
Smithfield Schools’ promise, “every child will be prepared for continued learning, career, and life” can only be realized if we attend to supporting a safe learning environment. I’ve discussed rigor and technology in previous blog posts and would be remiss if I neglected to address safety. Sometimes the extent of the work of our administrative team and staff behind the scenes is not well understood by parents and towns people. I hope that this particular blog entry provides a glimpse into the very important work we are doing to ensure that Smithfield Schools are safe places to work and learn – even in a pandemic.
The Smithfield School Committee recently adopted a new policy, aligned to state law, that outlines the contents of school and district safety plans. While Smithfield’s plans are up-to-date, reviewed regularly, and are supported by a district emergency operations team, consisting of police, fire, and school officials, the policy reminds us that we have more work to do to address safety concerns in our schools. Additionally, a comprehensive safety audit done by Safe Havens two years ago provides guidance for ensuring a safe school environment. Interestingly, the audit identified the need for a pandemic response plan — something that we never thought we’d have to consider.
Several resources provide direction on actions that districts can make to prevent, prepare and respond to, as well as recover from an emergency. The emergency management cycle, prevent-prepare-respond-recover, provides a framework that is used nationally to ensure that entities consider all aspects of safety planning. Developing plans, training staff on various protocols, investing in locks and security systems, reviewing food safety protocols, working with RIDOH to quarantine students who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, and other efforts all contribute toward reducing risks that are prevalent in today’s society.
The PREVENT phase aims to avoid the occurrence of incidents or lessen the harm done by unavoidable incidents.
Over the past two years, Smithfield Public Schools has used COPS grant funding to complete facilities improvements at SHS and GMS that include new security entrances for visitor management and alarm systems that allow office staff to discretely alert the police if a situation warrants police response. New camera systems, purchased with local funds, can be accessed by the police and fire departments remotely, if needed, to respond to an incident safely. In response to the current pandemic, new practices include cleaning protocols, mask-wearing, and social distancing. These are all preventative measures. More importantly, the greatest preventative measure a school can make is through relationships. Our small school sizes provide environments where every child is known. Conversations about alternatives to suspension are aimed to reengage students who make poor decisions, rather than furthering the divide. Responsive Classroom techniques in grades PK-5 develop strong classroom cultures. The Classroom of Difference programming supported by the Anti-Defamation League supports inclusive school environments at our middle and high schools.
The PREPARE phase is the process of preparing for incidents. Effective preparedness requires planning for worst-case scenarios. It involves a continuous cycle of planning, practicing, and evaluating actions aimed at effective response to an incident.
Fire drills are perhaps the longest standing protocol developed and practiced by schools but there are many others as well that should be established and practiced regularly. Plans for medical emergency response include sufficient staff who are CPR trained and consider the locations of our AEDs and naloxone for opiod overdose, the response time of EMS to our schools, and delineated steps to take in case of a medical emergency. Other protocols have been or are being written and shared with staff for lockdowns, stay-in-place, bomb threats, and other responses. Establishing systems for sharing the protocols with staff and practicing protocols are and will always be a work in progress as we learn more about which practices are the most effective.
The RESPOND phase includes the steps taken to minimize harm to people and property during a particular incident. Its focus is on the short-term, direct effects of an incident and requires tight coordination and rapid action among all participants. This includes executing the emergency plans developed and practiced in the Prepare phase. Working with the RIDOH to determine who will be quarantined after a positive case is confirmed is another example of a response.
The last phase of the cycle will hopefully never have to be utilized, however, planning for it is an ongoing enterprise. Working closely with our police and fire departments, practicing protocols, and developing plans will help us to respond appropriately and effectively should an incident occur.
The RECOVER phase is concerned with restoring the learning and teaching environment after an incident. It is the process of mending the physical and psychological health of school community members, as well as restoring its physical facilities to re-establish a positive learning environment.
Each school has a crisis team and a corresponding district team will be established. Such a team would consist of administrators, nurses, school psychologists, emergency responders, and local clergy, to meet regularly to develop protocols ensuring that the community is supported during the recovery phase of a critical incident, should one occur. To be clear, critical incidents include natural disasters and events outside of the school environment in addition to violent actions during the school day. An effective district crisis team should not be simply a list of people on a piece of paper but, instead, should consist of a team of caring individuals who are poised to come together to provide specific support after a critical incident. Written agreements can be developed with neighboring districts to share psychologists and counselors so that our community will have more support than it could possibly provide on its own. One of our In a former district, PREPaRE training, developed developed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), was provided to administrators and mental health professionals to strengthen school safety and crisis management plans and response.
It is scary to think about the incidents that have occurred in other communities and impossible to eliminate all risks to our own schools but through the work we are doing in Smithfield schools, we can do the best that we can for the most important asset of our community – our children.
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