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MUSD Board approves Emergency Response Plan
Doris Fightmaster
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
On March 11th the MUSD School Board met in the High School Lecture hall and opted not to view the presentation prepared by Heidi Fawcett, but voted to adopt the District Emergency Response Plan (ERP) unanimously. The Communicator caught up with Ms. Fawcett after the meeting and she shared the document.
School and district personnel have been updating the ERP since 2006, making this plan district wide, with specifics for each campus. Multiple hazards and responses to hazards have been addressed. How are our kids safer?
* District priority is on student safety
* Teachers trained in responses to multi-hazard situations
* Students/staff drill for the unexpected
* District staff trained in the Incident Command System (ICS)
* Classrooms have supplies
* First responders are District Partners
The ERP manual will provide step-by-step guidelines to help deal with emergencies and includes specific items such as communications, media, and a comprehensive checklist to follow. One of a handful of districts with site mapping implementation in Arizona, this Pinal County grant was the first of its kind. These preparations “made us prioritize student safety – Look, Evaluate, Prepare, and React with more effectiveness in multi-hazard situations,” according to the manual. Now that this plan is in place, the next thing to be done, according to Ms. Fawcett, is to continue with the safety teams, rapid responder updates, school site training, first aid/CPR training, and continue NIMS/ICS certifications.
The School Board approved an item for administrative services, covering several topics. Discussion and changes happen often in this area as some items are on the first or second reading. As items are approved after three times through this section, they are put into action as rules of the District. There was a first reading of the Support Staff Workload and second reading of the Personnel Records and Files and Entrance Age Requirements. This last item was addressed during the call to the public by a concerned parent who has a child that has tested and qualifies for school, but under the 5 year old age requirement, is not allowed to attend. The Board decided to have the Entrance Age Requirements on the regular agenda at the next meeting.
Another item that will show up at a future meeting will be the possible partnership with the City of Maricopa on sharing a fuel island facility. More information and numbers are needed for evaluation.
Expense vouchers and personnel schedules were approved at the meeting, while the Agreement and evaluation of Superintendent was tabled and will be fine tuned and approved at a later meeting.
President Geoff Goddard, Vice President Tracy Davis, and members Tim White, Carrie Vargas, and Lori Glenn were all in attendance. The group is looking at dates in late March or early April to go out and visit with each school site. Their goal is to go out on a normal school day, visit with the principals, then go around and visit with staff.
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