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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1.
What is emergency preparedness?
2.
How can I stay informed?
3.
How will my child's school
handle an emergency situation?
4.
How can I see the security plan
for my child's school?
5.
What is lockdown?
6.
What will
the school do if an emergency
situation occurs while students are in school?
7.
What is shelter-in-place?
8.
What if a child is exposed to a
biological or chemical contaminant?
9.
What is basic decontamination?
10.
Will I be allowed to pick up my
child?
11.
Will I be given the evacuation
and parent reunification locations ahead of time?
12.
Are schools stockpiling food
and water?
13.
What if my child is riding a
school bus at the time of a crisis?
14.
Can I pick up my child?
15.
Who can pick up my children?
16. What about my child's medication?
1. What is emergency preparedness?
The Waterford School District has taken steps to ensure your
child's safety while in school. Each school has a crisis
management team in place and an emergency preparedness plan.
The plan includes the steps staff will take in the event of an
emergency, including a parent communication plan and
evacuation plan.
2. How can I stay informed?
The Waterford School Districts broadcasts emergency messages,
when necessary, using a number of media. General emergency
messages, including school closings, can be found on the
district website home page www.waterford.k12.mi.us and on
cable Channel 22. Emergency messages are also transmitted to
local media, including television and radio stations. Parents
are encouraged to use these media sources for updates on
emergency situations.
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3. How will my child's school handle an emergency situation?
All Waterford School District facilities have an emergency
preparedness plan. The specifics of each plan differ for each
location. A response to a situation will differ based on the
specifics of that situation. The flexibility of the plan is
key to the success of the response. In general, each school
has a crisis management team; develops evacuation,
shelter-in-place, and lockdown procedures; maintains a
portable critical response kit that contains key information
and supplies; designates one or more appropriate evacuation
sites; provides training to personnel and updating of the
plan; maintains checklists for dealing with specific types of
incidents; and provides resources for help before, during and
after an event. All Waterford School District school plans
have been reviewed and school crisis management teams have
received training.
4.
How can I see the security plan for my child's school?
The Waterford School District does not release this type of
specific information, pursuant to the Freedom of Information
Act. This law provides specific exclusions to the type of
information that can be released and protects our students and
staff.
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5. What is lockdown?
An emergency may prevent the safe evacuation of a school
building and require steps to isolate students and staff from
danger by instituting a school lockdown. In an interior
lockdown situation, all students are kept in classrooms or
other designated locations that are away from the danger.
Staff members are responsible for accounting for students and
ensuring that no one leaves the safe area. School staff will
also secure building entrances, ensuring that no unauthorized
individuals enter the building. Exterior lockdown
procedures may also be used to ensure the safety of students
when an incident occurs in the community. Parents are
permitted access to the building and to their children if it
is safe for them to do so.
6.
What will the Waterford School District do if an emergency
situation occurs while students are in school?
The specific actions taken by the Waterford School District in
any emergency situation, both districtwide and at individual
schools, will depend on the specifics of the situation. Any
action taken would depend on several factors, including the
level of threat and the advice or directive of local, state,
and federal agencies. The safety of students and staff members
will be the primary concern in any decision.
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7. What is shelter-in-place?
Shelter-in-place is a short-term measure (measured in minutes
or hours, not days) designed to use a facility and its indoor
atmosphere to temporarily separate people from a hazardous
outdoor environment. If an accident or attack that created
contaminated air occurred in the school area, students would
be brought indoors. Building personnel would close all windows
and doors and shut down the heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning system (HVAC). This would create a neutral
pressure in the building, meaning the contaminated air would
not be drawn into the building. No stockpiling of water and
food is needed for shelter-in-place. Any event of a magnitude
that required such stockpiling would require that the school
community, as well as the community at large, would take
direction from the federal emergency management officials.
Parents should not be concerned that, during a
shelter-in-place activity, they might be separated from their
children for long periods of time. That will not happen
because if the air outside the school is safe for parents to
breathe, it will be safe for their children to breathe. School
staff have developed a plan that uses the best possible method
for ensuring the safety of students and staff members in this
type of crisis. Waterford School District staff will keep
children safe for parents until the parents can pick them up.
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8.
What if a child is exposed to a biological or chemical
contaminant?
In the event of an exposure, and the child is showing obvious
symptoms, trained staff members on hand would conduct basic
decontamination per the emergency training directive.
9. What is basic decontamination?
In the event that a child shows symptoms of exposure, school
staff members would conduct basic decontamination. The child
would be separated from other children and directed to wash
thoroughly with soap and water. If possible, school staff
would make sure that the child showered and would provide
alternative clothing. The exposed clothing would be put in
plastic bags, and the bags would be sealed. Removing a
contaminated person's clothing effectively removes in excess
of 80 percent of contaminants from the person; the alternative
would be to do nothing and thereby cause the person to suffer
pain and possible serious injury.
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10. Will I be allowed to pick up my child?
The Waterford School District does not intend to keep children
from their parents if a crisis occurs during school hours or
school activities. It is the school district's intent to make
sure that children are safe inside their schools until such a
time that the threat has been reduced. Parents will be
informed where and how to reunite with their children as soon
as it is safe to do so.
11.
Will I be given the evacuation and parent reunification
locations ahead of time?
The Waterford School District does not release this type of
specific information, pursuant to the Freedom of Information
Act. This law provides specific exclusions to the type of
information that can be released. Also, during emergency
situations, circumstances could arise that might force changes
to previously designated locations. Parents will be informed
of parent / student reunification center locations via the
local media and through District resources.
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12. Are schools stockpiling food and water?
The school district is taking action to make sure that schools
and offices have the appropriate resources available for a
short-term event. In the event of a large-scale catastrophic
event, the Waterford School District would rely on federal and
state authorities for assistance.
The Waterford School District shelter-in-place plan is to be
used only in the event of a chemical, biohazard, or
radiological event. In any one of these situations, which are
usually localized (i.e., do not cover a wide area), persons
typically need to remain indoors only a few hours before the
hazard literally blows away. After the danger has passed,
children and staff members will be free to go to their homes.
There may be other events that would cause people to be housed
for longer periods of time in public buildings such as
schools. In such an event, other community agencies, including
the Red Cross, would be responsible for providing food and
water. In all critical events of this type, the school
district becomes part of a larger emergency response team.
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13.
What if my child is riding a school bus at the time of a
crisis?
The transportation service providers will be in contact with
the Central Office for instructions in the event that a crisis
occurs while students are in transport. Bus drivers will be
informed to avoid driving toward the crisis location. Parents
will be informed of the parent-student reunification center
location via the Districts' emergency messaging system
and local media.
14. Can I pick up my child?
Parents will be allowed to pick up their children unless
public safety officials have declared a shelter-in-place
response, or there is some other reason why access to the
facility is restricted. During any emergency, school staff
will maintain a safe and normal environment for children
within the school. School will not automatically be canceled
in emergency situations because the school may be the safest
place for children to be.
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15. Who can pick up my children?
Children will not be released to individuals who are
not authorized to do so on the student's emergency card or who
do not have written parent authorization. The emergency card
will be completed by parents and guardians at the start of
each school year. Parents and guardians are encouraged to
update the emergency card as needed throughout the school
year.
16. What about my child's medication?
If your child takes medication regularly, you the parent,
should make sure that the school has an appropriate amount of
additional medication on hand. Talk with your child's
principal for more information.
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