School board mandates emergency parent, child reunification plans. Will Southern Utah schools be ready?

August 3, 2018 Utah Channel 3

ST. GEORGE — Utah’s public schools will be required to have published plans for reuniting students with their parents during emergencies under a rule approved by the State Board of Education.

The board approved the requirement Thursday while deciding against requiring schools to conduct reunification drills, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Law enforcement at Pine View High School following an evacuation as the result of a suspicious package found on school grounds, St. George, Utah, March 5, 2018 | File photo by Spencer Ricks, St. George News

However, board spokesman Mark Peterson said reunification drills are being added to the list of various types of emergency drills that schools can choose among for required practice each year.

The timing of the board’s action doesn’t allow the requirement for a published reunification plan to be in effect during the entire 2018-19 school year, Peterson said.

Peterson told The Associated Press that state Superintendent Sydnee Dickson is notifying districts about the board’s actions and urging them to communicate with parents on reunification plans as soon as possible.

Washington County School District already has a reunification plan in place if an emergency were to arise. According to its offsite evacuation and family reunification plan, if an emergency were to happen, school officials would make the following announcement:

Evacuate! to (remote site). We will be implementing the Family Reunification protocol from that location. Please have students take their belongings.

The school district has a certain protocol for teachers to follow, including having a reunification site commander. For elementary and intermediate school students, the school district conducts a quick release — students are released from outside a classroom door, supervised by a teacher — and a slow release — students are released from a reunification station outside the building, facilitated by the family reunification team.

For middle and high school students, it’s the same release protocol, except those students can release themselves if their parents have signed an emergency release permission form.

Iron County School District’s campus safety and emergency preparedness plan is less detailed than Washington County’s. According to its policy, the safety of students and staff should be met with “preparedness response which insures that the health and safety of students and staff are safeguarded.”

According to Iron County’s policy on bomb threats and false alarms, the prime concern is the safety of students; however, the policy states that schools won’t necessarily evacuate or dismiss classes as a result of threatening messages.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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