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Nearly every day, organizations worldwide experience some type of incident, either natural or man-made, requiring evacuation from their facilities. When these events occur at a school, administrators and staff must ensure the safe and efficient reunification of students with their parents or guardians.
Recently, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) conducted a two-day, first-of-its-kind training with first responders from nearly 27 municipalities in Miami-Dade County. Police and fire department personnel, Emergency Medical Technicians and hospitals representatives came together for the first time to coordinate efforts in the case of an emergency.
“In order to provide the safest environment possible for students, staff and at our schools, we are also incorporating family reunification plans, which are vital to our school community,” said schools superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres.
Miami-Dade Police Department Capt. Rita Rodriguez also was thrilled about all the departments working together.
“When we have an event like this and everyone’s collaborating to have a unified mission of just doing the right thing, and making sure our children are safe — there’s nothing more exciting than that!” she said.
The training was conducted by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, which is considered an expert in family reunification plans across the nation. The foundation has developed a Standard Reunification Method (SRM), which provides schools with proven methods to conduct a successful reunion with family members. In the event of a school closing or unexpected evacuation due to a natural or man-made disaster, a District Family Reunification Team would be deployed immediately to identified off-site reunification locations to provide the safest environment possible for students and staff to be reunited with their families.
“We are using a national model that establishes how you gather families together, so they are continuously informed, in case of a school emergency Dr. Dotres,” said.
The SRM model was developed by the foundation, which was started by Ellen and John-Michael Keyes and commemorates the last text message their daughter, Emily, sent them just before her life was taken during a school shooting. Today, the foundation is led and supported by survivors, family members, and those with a vested interest in safety, preparedness and reunification in schools.
“We’re really excited to be here in Miami Dade and working with the school district,” said John-Michael Keyes, who is the foundation’s co-founder and executive director. “The strong, positive relationship with law-enforcement is a critical ingredient in this whole school safety puzzle. Seeing today the relationship between the district and local law enforcement is really impressive.”
The training included focused classroom training, tabletop exercises, real-world demonstrations and exercises to prepare M-DCPS staff to conduct an actual reunification of students with their parents or guardians.
“I think as a school district, we have a model that is very strong and consistent, and I am extremely proud of the work and the coming together of 27 municipalities to make sure that we respond to emergencies, and that we create a coalition on behalf of the safety of our schools,” Dr. Dotres said.
Frank Zenere, a school psychologist and district coordinator for M-DCPS’ Student Services/Crisis Management Program, has assisted many families with traumatic incidents nationwide throughout his 30-year career. He was very eager about the training event and how it would help in future incidents to reassure parents about their children’s safety.
“The school district is taking exceptional precautions and actions to, under a worst case scenario, keep children and school staff safe from harm,” Zenere said. “It’s a deliberate action, training and preparation, to work crisis situations without any injury happening to our children whom we are serving on a daily basis, and whose safety is our No 1 priority.”
Luis E. Diaz is Chief Operating Officer, Office of the Deputy Superintendent, Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
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