Each of the schools in the Emery County School District have in place Emergency Response Plans that address emergency situations. These plans are updated annually to address new staffing, student needs, community concerns, new research and input from the local law enforcement personnel. The Emergency Response Plans are broad in their approach in order to respond to the many situations that could arise. The plans include response to:

•General Emergencies Actions: Preparation, general responses, staff responsibilities, school codes or signals, crisis team membership, evacuation routes and relocation sites, lock-down procedures, public information, communication solutions and procedures, canceling school, media response, early warning signs of violent behaviors, violent behavior prevention and intervention

•Fire
•Severe Storm
•Earthquake
•Hazardous Materials/Chemical Spills •Weapons in Schools
•Bomb threats
•Intruder/Hostage Situations
•Serious Injury/Death
•Suicide Attempt
•Power Outage
•Gas Leak
•School Violence

Staff Training is held annually during faculty meetings to orient employees to their roles and responsibilities in emergency situations.

Drills are conducted for both fire and other emergency situations throughout the year. Schools work with local law enforcement and hold lockdown, intruder, and active shooter drills on a regular basis, being sensitive to the age and maturity of the students. High Schools students assist with drills as active participants to allow for drills using real people to simulate real behaviors. Local EMT personnel and firemen also participate in these drills as appropriate. At least one emergency drill, other than fire drills, is held annually prior to April 30th.

Each School includes, as part of its regular curriculum, violence prevention and intervention strategies such as anger management, conflict resolution, and respect for diversity and other cultures.

The School District has contracts with both Public and Mental Health agencies to promote safe and healthy environments and to provide crisis counseling when necessary if crisis events occur.

All schools have personnel trained in CPR and First Aid to respond to medical emergencies. Update training is provided annually for these identified personnel.

Each school maintains a Crisis Team to coordinate and direct actions during any school crisis in concert with local emergency and law enforcement agencies.

Each school has in place school codes for evacuation and/or lockdown procedures as well as identified Relocation Centers where students and teachers are to assemble if emergency evacuation is required due to an intruder situation or other situations that would require students and staff to leave the immediate school grounds.

Each school has a Lockdown procedure including:
-Code for lockdown and “all clear”
-Securing of both outside and inside doors
-Covering windows
-Positioning of students in the classroom
-Following instructions of school administration and/or law enforcement

Each school directs visitors to the main office for check-in before proceeding into the school. Doors that do not need to be unlocked in order to maintain a flow of students from one building to another for classes are kept locked in order to maintain as much security as possible.

The District has an identified Public Information process to effectively control information flow and media access, as well as for providing necessary information to the public and to staff and students.

School facilities are inspected annually to determine if problems exist which could negatively impact school physical safety and security.

The School District works closely with the Sheriff’s Department and our State Risk Management Agency to do risk assessments of every school facility to determine the need for improving safety for students and staff. Policies are in place to address citizenship, civility, drug and alcohol use, student conduct, smoking and tobacco use, dangerous weapons in schools, and student/staff relations. Character education is promoted and taught in every school and schools are assisted by counseling and psychological services for school-level interventions and in identifying and providing for school violence prevention and intervention strategies.

Background checks are required of all employees and regular volunteers. Playground supervision is provided to insure student safety. School maps and evacuation routes are updated annually and shared with law enforcement. Surveillance cameras are installed in all secondary schools.

The also schools have emergency telephone numbers and addresses for effective notification of emergency situations. The District also uses “Parent-Link” to send out notifications of important information to parents in case there is a need to share emergency directions or information.

The School District maintains an open invitation to parents and community members to offer reasonable suggestions of things the District could do to improve safety measures in our schools. Please feel free to talk with your school principals, submit recommendations on our school district website, or call the District Office.