SHTF while I'm teaching

[teachermom44]

I'm new to the forum, I introduced myself about a week ago. I've enjoyed what I've read so far. It's made me more aware when I'm out and about, about a lot of things. My newest thoughts have had to do with my job. I teach 4th grade about 15 minutes away from my home.(Not so sure how far away it is, but it'll seem forever with the younger two! ) My 6 year old and 8 year old go with me. My husband is at home and the oldest two 13 and 11 go to the middle school about 2 miles away from the house. I figure my husband can go and get the boys in the car or on foot depending on the situation.

I however feel kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only plan my state/county has is the one where we're put on lockdown while the police clear the building. I live in a military town and several of my kids parents are in the military. I would assume that their families and families of the ones who live close would come get their kids. So what about the kids in my class that have nooneto come get them? Am I obligated to stay with them? Do I take them with me? (This last bit, taking them with me, is assuming it's really bad and any kind of structure has gone by the wayside.) I perfectly fine with leaving one or two with my principal, she does get paid the big bucks you know! My teaching team says we should stay because if the positions were reversed we'd want their teachers to stay with them. Any thoughts? I already have my possible routes planned out whether we're walking or riding.

It's easy to say take my kids and just go, but kids who can't defend themselves make me think twice about just leaving them.

[RickOShea]

I would try to come up with a plan for your husband to collect all your children while you stay at the school, until you're relieved by the principal.

[duodecima]

I think this sounds like a really good communications plan would help!

Some situations, husband coming to get your kids would make the most sense, other situations not, and it might not be possible to predict those situations ahead of time.

At least your kids are with you, even if they are at school!

[jamoni]

I'd say that, as long as the kids are safe at school, it is your responsibility to stay with them. Until you are properly relieved, IE by the parents, by government authorities, or by someone higher in your chain of command, you have to take care of them.
If it is unsafe to remain, then you take the kids with you.
Make sure your husband understands this, and that he is responsible for getting your own kids to safety.

[AnonEmous]

This is an excellent question and topic. Is there any way you can broach this with the principal by using something that has happened elsewhere? I am thinking of the tornadoes which hit Jasper, Mississippi in 2011 or something similar. Is there some plan in place if a mid-day snowfall forces school to close early?

I would use bad weather, a chemcial accident, or somethign else-- plausible based on your location-- to broach the topic. I am sure parents also want to know how to determine their chicldren are safe and how to pick them up in the event of a disaster, which also should provide insight to how the teachers are expected to react in the same scenario.

[teachermom44]

Are there plans beyond a typical lockdown situation? Not that I can find. Most of our emergency plans focus on intruders/somebody with guns on campus. When I go back to school I'll have to check my flip chart for what they have in place. But if memory serves me right, I think it only covers fires, tornados, and bomb threats.

I am glad that I"ll have some of my kids with me! Yeah I'm gonna have to sit down with my husband and lay out some plans.

I have been thinking about calling the central office and inquiring about their plans. I was teaching when 9/11 happened, but most parents that worked in town came right away and got their kids. I think we even had school the next day, just with a lot of kids absent.

FYI I tend to talk my way through ideas/concepts, etc.. so I apologize if I repeat myself or overlook something obvious.

As for my higher ups to take the kids that are left behind, I kinda feel like hell might freeze over first. I could see them leaving us in the lurch or coming up with a really STUPID plan that doesn't take the teachers or kids into consideration.

[jamoni]

Harumph. I think my next research paper is going to be on the relative frequencies of gun battles and bombs at school v. natural disasters and/or scenarios requiring evacuation.

[AnonEmous]

As for my higher ups to take the kids that are left behind, I kinda feel like hell might freeze over first. I could see them leaving us in the lurch or coming up with a really STUPID plan that doesn't take the teachers or kids into consideration.

Yes, I know sometimes management comes up with SOPs that appear more CYA in nature than anything else. With the understanding that raising important, although difficult questions in a bureacracy can be challenging at a minimum, is it possible you put forward a few suggestions, such as making sure a callling tree is in place or making sure at a minimum that all contact information for all students is updated?

Any SIMPLE ideas you can put forward when broaching this topic, especially when framed in a relevant way, could go a long way in helping determine what you must do, what you can do, and what you should do. This question reminds me of the stories out of New Orleans when doctors and nurses allegedly abandoned patients when a hospital started to flood. Altruisim is important, but in a life threatening situation, it is difficult to know exactly how one will respond, especially without any prior planning.

Great question, please let us know how your course of action progresses.

[majorhavoc]

This is a conundrum, isn't it? I agree with Rickoshea that the most sensible plan would involve your husband having primary responsibility for collecting all of your children and ensuring they get safely home. And I agree with Rick and Jamoni that so long as there are pupils still left in your class, your responsibility is to stay with them. Come hell and high water.

This expectation that the principal is going to relieve you and the other teachers for the kids with parents unable to show up sounds, sorry to say, really kludgie to me. Big bucks or no, I think your teaching team is dead on right that if the situation were reversed, you'd want your frightened children to be with their teacher, not some near stranger known to them primarily as that booming voice on the PA system.

You say that for the kids who have parents in the military that you assume that their families would come and get them. You mean their extended families? And are we talking about parents who are deployed, or parents who are stationed on this nearby base and who would be indisposed by whatever event is causing this emergency in the first place? Or both?

I think it might be worthwhile to ask some of the military parents: so what happens if say some major regional disaster or terrorist event happens and your base immediately goes on high alert? Who picks up your kid? It's entirely possible the commander of the local base has a plan for that in place. But you can't know until you ask. More to the point, it seems like this is a discussion that your school administration should be having with the local military brass.

[teachermom44]

Major Havoc good questions and good thoughts. When I said families of the military kids I meant any member that could come get them that are allowed. I don't know how many of the soldiers themselves would be able to get to their kids. I think I will ask some of the military guys I go to church with. They're use to me asking all kinds of questions. I do plan on asking all kinds of questions from all kinds of folks here pretty soon.

Someone asked if we had a call tree and we do have an automated calling system so that would be used at some point I would hope.

Thanks for all the input. I knew you guys would have all sorts of ideas. Keep em coming, please!

[duodecima]

But you can't know until you ask. More to the point, it seems like this is a discussion that your school administration should be having with the local military brass.

This. It's amazing the assumptions one planning group will make about the availability of resources from another group, as I noticed when doing pandemic planning in healthcare. Also assumptions about what your colleagues will do - it amazed me the folks in every job category who were just going to bug in at their cabins and not come to work. Your teaching team at least sounds like it's doing a good job of keeping the students needs at the center of planning.

(For the record, I would not mind if the principal stayed with my children, but I've been blessed with good principals who have made sure that the students in their building see them a lot in normal situations.)

[carolinafan]

If there's a lockdown at your school, then nobody's kid is going to be leaving, no matter who comes to get them. A lockdown means just that, the school is locked down. Nobody gets in or out until the police say so and it's lifted. In that case your class is going to be staying right where it is. As far as SHTF bad enough that "all structure has gone by the wayside" then your legal obligation to your students will probably have gone by the wayside too. In that case it would be just whatever you feel your moral obligation is. I would caution against taking any children away from school with you. What if their parents come to school after the fact and find the kids aren't there? Then you'd have people going around looking for all these kids. As far as the school district's plan for emergencies, even if you don't specifically know the plan, I'm fairly certain they have one, and I would definitely call or ask the principal at your school to get you more info on it.

[Fletch]

luckily the school I teach at is built like a fortress, so I figure once my grade three's grow up a tadge I'll have my own little zombie killin' army

[Doctorr Fabulous]

luckily the school I teach at is built like a fortress, so I figure once my grade three's grow up a tadge I'll have my own little zombie killin' army

Don't they all know kung-fu by grade 3? (Srs bsns, I was quite certain that martial arts were a part of the curriculum in your district, Fletch)

Teachermom, the .mil is pretty good about making sure the SO's and weelings are taken care of of in a disaster. i would second the idea of going to your superior about a serious plan to get the kids out/taken care of in a non-lockdown or natural disaster event. If they blow yu off, you DO have a PTA, right? Just saying, this might be your chance to champion a cause in your area, and better ingratiate yourself with the local parents and teachers. I know in my town, civilians have been recognized by the .mil for working together with the local command to improve PR or smooth out pressing issues.

[Prepared American]

Try to become a part of a disaster planning committee for your school district. Then you could have some real input in to contingency planning for the events that concern your area.

Please don't desert your post and protect your students. Maybe your husband can meet you at the school with you older kids to assist you until you are all capable of returning to your home.

[Jamie]

I'd say that, as long as the kids are safe at school, it is your responsibility to stay with them. Until you are properly relieved, IE by the parents, by government authorities, or by someone higher in your chain of command, you have to take care of them.
If it is unsafe to remain, then you take the kids with you.
Make sure your husband understands this, and that he is responsible for getting your own kids to safety.

This!

I'm a teacher also, and I'm on my students until relieved of that responsibility to my satisfaction...my wife knows this, and we have a plan in place for dealing with emergencies during the school day (including picking up our son).

Jamie

[Jamie]

Are there plans beyond a typical lockdown situation? Not that I can find. Most of our emergency plans focus on intruders/somebody with guns on campus. When I go back to school I'll have to check my flip chart for what they have in place. But if memory serves me right, I think it only covers fires, tornados, and bomb threats.

I was teaching when Columbine happened, and on 9/11, and both incidents kicked our emergency planning into gear, but people forget, and/or get lazy after a couple of years.

I serve on the emergency planning committee in my school, and it sounds like you might be interested in (and a good choice) for that at your school as well. My school has a bunch of different emergency response options, including shelter in place and evacuation for both long and short term situations of all sorts.

Jamie

[Bonecrusher Doc]

I agree that in this situation the best thing to have would be a communications plan with your husband, especially if the phone lines are down.

[teachermom44]

[quoteMy school has a bunch of different emergency response options, including shelter in place and evacuation for both long and short term situations of all sorts. ][/quote]


This is what I don't think we have the shelter in place and evacuation for both long and short term situations. I can't wait for tomorrow so I can start digging into this all.

I really don't think I would be able to leave the kids you guys are right about that. It wouldn't be morally responsible of me on that part.

[dca2]

I too, teach. Luckily we have a Lock-down plan, a shelter in place plan, an alternate school site that we would bus the students to and another school within walking distance if the busses were not an option. We all have a plastic Emergency Response folder with all CURRENT emergency SOPs including fire, tornado, lockdown, evac, etc. as well as our class rosters.

I have all of these plans but this thread has made me realize that I have never shared the plans--especially the evac sites--with my family. When something happens and phones are down they would be clueless as to my location. I also do not know the evac sites for my own children who attend 3 different schools. I guess I have some homework!

[teachermom44]

I found some info on our intranet, it said it had a section on terrorism but I couldn't find it. There were things that they said we should have in place but we don't.

Also I usually keep a supply of bottled water in the classroom for me, I may need to add some food stores too. I know we have a cafeteria but our school is not one enclosed building we have 6 buildings that are fairly spaced out and connected by walkways. It was a really popular design around here in the early 60's.

My list keeps getting longer for the home and the work place.

[carolinafan]

It's good that you're thinking of being prepared for things while you're at work, but honestly I think you might be focusing too much on storing things at the workplace right now. Since you're just getting started with this stuff, I'd honestly spend most of my efforts on getting things squared away in my house. I'm not saying completely ignore the workplace, but maybe just put together a BOB to keep in your classroom that contains some food, not trying to create a pantry of any kind. Just my $.02.

[jimmyjack]

Im not sure about your school but I know that many towns during disaster evacuate to their schools. Also the CDC, FEMA, and other disaster relief groups set up shop in them regularly. If government infrastructure fails I would feel it to be my obligation to take on whatever children I could; having their emergency information and leaving bread crumbs on the way to their residences, if that is at all plausible or to where they could find them.

[dca2]

It's easy to say take my kids and just go, but kids who can't defend themselves make me think twice about just leaving them.

I do not know about the laws in your AO. In my state, the students are considered to be our responsibility until they reach their home, are picked up by a guardian or released into police custody. In an emergency SHTF, leaving my students before I am given permission by my bosses is not a legal option. TEOTWAWKI will be your personal decision to live with.