Reunification

Practicing provides many benefits.

• Administrators see where they need to improve plans.
• Staff begin to understand their roles during a disaster.
• Parents see first-hand how stressful and complicated this process can be.
• Parents think about their family’s plan and talk to other parents about how they can work together.
• Staff think about their personal preparedness plans.
• Schools hone their parent outreach and improve how they communicate with families.

How it works.

The district sets some guidelines, and each school is tasked with having a plan. But the district’s template is very general and needs to be customized by each school for its particular circumstances. And while the schools are required to have a plan, they are not required to practice it. Parent interest and participation is needed to make this happen.

1. As with everything else, the first step is to convince your administration that this is important. Next, work with them to pick a date a few months out, as this will take some planning.
2. Contact the PPS Emergency Manager, Kyle Olsen, to let him know you’re planning a drill. He'll provide the basic protocol and come to the school on the day of the drill to help oversee it. It’s important that PPS is involved so they can provide guidance and learn from each reunification drill that happens in the district.
3. Work with your administration and safety committee to adapt the basic district template so that it makes sense for your school. Talk to the most veteran teachers and/or staff members in the school, and ask if they have done this before. If so, what did they learn? Consider inviting a P4P member from a school that has done a reunification drill to meet with you and share their experience.
4. Help recruit families to participate, and find ways to communicate with parents about the drill. Consider having an opt-in or opt-out signup. Make sure all families are reached, including those who don’t speak English. Assist in finding translation help, if needed.
5. You can also help by observing the drill and making notes for improvement. Remember to be sensitive with any critique, and do not get involved in the drill beyond participating as any other parent would. It’s important that the faculty/staff know how to do this without your help. Consider inviting your Neighborhood Emergency Team to help with observation, scene safety, and communicating preparedness info to parents. If they haven’t already, NETs will need to complete a PPS background check.
6. Plan to meet after the drill to revise the school's plan based on lessons learned. For much more detailed information about this process, look at the Reunification Drills folder on the P4P Basecamp site.

Challenges.

Getting the word out to parents about the drill can be challenging and time consuming. Sunnyside P4P members did day and evening parent workshops ahead of time to prepare people. Atkinson P4P members talked to parents and handed out flyers at the entrance to the school every morning and afternoon for the entire week before the drill, and still some people didn’t seem to know about it.

Some parents may need information provided in different languages, so translating informational materials and signage may be necessary.

Parents may get impatient during the drill, so you should be prepared to remind them why this is so important. The goal of the drill is to work through the kinks so that it runs smoothly in the event of a real emergency.

Everyone will be much better off if the schools can quickly release children to prepared families with plans. Plus, being separated without a plan would be terrifying for you and your child. Make plans and backup plans for how you will communicate and reunite. For help developing plans, visit Ready.gov/make-a-plan.

If you live or work across the river from your child’s school, include a school-area person on your child’s emergency contacts list. Even better, include several. Put these people’s contact information in your family communication plan, and remind them yearly that they’re on the list.

Next, make sure you’ll be able to get information after a disaster.

• Locate the BEECN locations nearest your home and work. These are designated spots where you’ll go to get information when phone and internet aren’t working.
• Sign up to receive PublicAlerts, which are emergency notifications about hazards affecting the areas you spend a lot of time (home, school, aftercare, grandparents, etc). PublicAlerts can reach you by landline, mobile phone, text, or email.
• Register to get text alerts from PPS about school closures, delays, emergencies, and more. Text YES to 68453.