2022 School Safety Training Forum

John Michael knows intimately that recovery starts when the crisis begins. As the crisis unfolds the focus spent on planning, partnering, and preparing will pay off.  Knowing how to effectively Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter in tandem with law enforcement and/or fire officials responding to the  scene is critical.   Introduced in 2009, the Standard Response Protocol is a proven enhancement to school safety planning. Thousands of schools in the US and Canada have adopted the program.  Introduced in 2012, the Standard Reunification Method fills a critical void in school safety planning: How to reunite students with their parents after a crisis. Both protocols have been adopted for statewide use in Virginia.    A critical aspect of incident response is the accountable reunification of students with their parents or guardians. The SRM provides school and district safety teams with proven methods for planning, practicing and achieving a successful reunification during what are often chaotic, anxiety-filled scenes. A predetermined, practiced reunification method will help defuse emotion at the site. SRM relies on site-specific considerations, so successful planning and implementation demands collaboration with administration and responding agencies. A plan for reuniting students and parents is the responsibility of schools and districts to maintain the chain of custody for every student.