John-Michael Keyes to lead school safety training
DURANGO, Colo., March 29, 2019 (Newswire.com) - Colorado's Durango School District 9-R will have John-Michael Keyes, Executive Director of the I Love U Guys Foundation, lead an all-day train-the-trainer session addressing key components in the school safety spectrum.
The session will be conducted on Monday, April 1, 2019, 8:00am–3:30pm, at the Double Tree Hotel, 501 Camino Del Rio, Durango, Colorado. The training is designed for school safety teams, law enforcement, emergency responders, and local government administrators. Lunch will be provided at no cost to the participants.
The day's training will cover The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and The Standard Reunification Method (SRM). Currently, over 25,000 schools, districts, departments, and agencies are using these Foundation programs. Users have included over 18 million students, nearly 700,000 educators, and over 65,000 law enforcement personnel.
According to the Colorado School Safety Guide published by the Office of the Attorney General, the SRP is a safety procedure that seeks to simplify and standardize the actions and language used by stakeholders facing a school safety emergency.
Execution of each action is performed by all active participants, including students, teachers, and first responders.
The guide explains that the lockdown directive, implemented in the event of a threat or hazard inside the building, is followed by the verbal command, "Lockdown! Locks, lights, out of sight!" The lockout directive, implemented in the event of a threat or hazard outside the building, is followed by the verbal command, "Lockout! Secure the perimeter."
The evacuate directive, implemented when students and staff need to move from one location to another, is followed by the verbal command, "Evacuate! (To the announced location)." The shelter directive, implemented when the need for personal protection is necessary, is followed by the verbal command, "Shelter! (For a hazard using a shelter strategy)."
The state guide further explains that the SRM, the other component, is designed to help family members arriving at a school during emergency operations. It provides school and district safety teams with recommended methods for planning, practicing, and achieving a successful family reunification, and features a tool kit that works particularly well with large schools.
This training is made possible by the School Access For Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program. The SAFER Program, established by Colorado Senate Bill 18-158, provides funding for interoperable communications hardware, software, equipment maintenance, and training to allow for seamless communications between existing school communications systems and first responder communications systems.
Schoolsafe Communications (http://schoolsafe.com) was selected to provide Colorado schools with its patented new breakthrough crisis communications capabilities, and implement its entire "Certified Ready" technology and training solution.
Keyes testified in support of SB18-158 before the Colorado Senate Education Committee last year. He said, "It's the training where relationships are formed. And instead of handing out business cards in a crisis, responders know each other by name already. Trust is already a baseline, not an aspiration. It is an opportunity to create a culture in advance of a crisis."
In concluding his testimony, Keyes said, "Now, you may be asking, why do I care? In 2006, a stranger entered Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado, and held 7 girls hostage. While held hostage, my daughter sent a text message: 'I love u guys.' As SWAT attempted rescue, the gunman fatally shot Emily before shooting himself. Emily gave me a voice, and she told us what to say. 'I love you guys.' Thank you very much."
Durango School District 9-R personnel can register through the Electronic Registrar Online (ERO). All other participants can visit http://tinyurl.com/y5stxmb2 to register online.
Source: School Safety Partners
