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Informational Message from Dr. Stoltz About Upcoming Safety Drills

March 8, 2018 - In my message to you on February 15, 2018, I shared part of our ongoing efforts to keep our schools safe. Plans have been underway since then to conduct another round of training with staff and students.

This letter is to notify you that all schools in the West Shore School District will be conducting Run, Hide, Fight drills the week of March 12-16, 2018. Additional information about this nationally recognized model for responding to intruders in a school setting can be found on our website.

Some important information regarding the drill:

  • Student training will include practicing the hide portion of Run, Hide, Fight.  
  • At the middle schools and high schools, students will watch the YouTube video SAUSD Run Hide Fight (Elementary School), which highlights all three of the elements of the Run, Hide, Fight approach.   
  • Our entire staff (K-12) viewed the SAUSD video during faculty meetings on Wednesday, March 7, and will be discussing safety protocols with their students. Some of those age-appropriate discussions may have already started taking place.  
  • In all schools, the drill will begin with the announcement “This is a drill. This is a drill. This is a drill.” and end with the announcement “The drill has been completed.”  
  • Depending on the size of the building, drills are expected to take approximately 20 minutes.  
  • Following the drill, parents will receive an informational email from their building principal to notify them that the drill was conducted.   

The goal of any drill is to improve our ability to protect students. While students and staff are aware the drill will be occurring next week, specifics about the date and time are not being shared so we can better evaluate our daily emergency preparedness plans and improve our response skills.

Please be assured that in addition to drills, we take many precautions to help ensure the safety of our students, staff, and visitors to our schools, and if there is ever a credible threat against our schools, we are prepared to take a swift and appropriate response.

As always, I appreciate your trust and confidence in our ability to protect and educate our students. If you have questions about next week’s drill, please contact me or your child's principal.

 

Todd B. Stoltz, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools