Hopefully it will never be activated in real life, but in case an emergency requires the offsite evacuation of a school, the Fayette County Public School System put its student/parent reunification plan to the test just weeks before summer break.
Over 100 fifth grade students and 10 parent volunteers from Crabapple Lane Elementary participated in the exercise, along with local emergency management and law enforcement personnel, and the school system’s transportation department.
Dogwood Church in Tyrone served as the reunification site for the small-scale exercise, with the main focus being an opportunity for staff to practice the procedure and for officials to evaluate its effectiveness. As part of the school system’s emergency response plan, staff at each school and the central office are assigned different positions and responsibilities to ensure the process runs smoothly.
The school system’s safety coordinator Dr. Ted Lombard talked to the students at Crabapple Lane a week prior to the drill, explaining what it was about and the importance of practicing it.
The exercise confirmed strengths of the plan and highlighted areas for improvement while giving staff the chance to use the equipment and forms required during an actual emergency. Staff also practiced handling possible scenarios that might occur such as panicked parents and sick or missing students.
A number of persons were on hand to observe the exercise and offer feedback, included were personnel from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Fayette County Emergency Management Agency, Fayette County Fire Department, and administrators and parents from Rising Starr Middle, Peeples Elementary, Huddleston Elementary, and J.C. Booth Middle schools.
A debriefing was held immediately following the exercise where both successes and challenges of the plan were discussed and possible solutions explored.
Lombard says he was very pleased with school system’s first run though of its student/parent reunification plan and that he received some highly constructive feedback that will help the school system improve the plan. Future reunification exercises will be conducted to test adjustments that are made resulting from the first drill.
