Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
As you parents are aware, the last several months have brought an increase in school violence across the nation. As the Crisis Team Leader for our school district, I want to let you know our schools have plans in place to follow in case of natural disasters such as fires and tornadoes, as well as emergencies such as bomb threats and intruders in our buildings. Both schools hold practice drills occasionally throughout the year to review these procedures with our students.
Unfortunately, we live in an age that forces us to implement policies that require extra work on both the parent's part and the school's part in order to keep our students safe. A couple of rules to remember are:
All visitors are asked to immediately check in at the office when entering school. Visitors will be given an identification badge so we may see who is supposed to be in the building.
Parents are asked to sign their children out when leaving school to attend doctor's appointments, due to illness, or other reasons.
Also, according to our crisis plan, if school is evacuated for any reason, students and staff will report to the following locations:
PBES — Track
PBHS — Northwest corner of practice field.
In the event of inclement weather or if the evacuation will continue for an extended period of time, students will report to these designated locations. Parents may pick up their children at these locations. Students will only be released to their parents.
Peabody-Burns Elementary — Baptist Church
Peabody Burns Jr/Sr High School — Methodist church
When a crisis occurs, we know that emotions run high. The crisis team understands this and realizes that parents need to be encouraged to understand in the event of a natural disaster or crisis, that their child will be safe.
Sincerely,
Ken Parry
District Crisis Team Leader
