October is Think Safe Month in Canyons District. It’s a perfect time to remind families of all we do in the name of keeping our schools welcoming, secure, and prepared. It’s also the month for elementary schools to conduct a lockdown drill, per CSD’s Incident Command Manual. Middle and high schools conduct their lockdown drills in November, which should coincide with a shelter-in-place exercise. What’s the difference between a lockdown and shelter-in-place? Both are enacted by swiping the emergency “lock” card, which locks a school’s perimeter doors. But during a shelter-in-place, which is a precaution taken to keep staff and students safe indoors when there is a threat or hazard outside of the building, school goes on as normal, students and employees are free to move about the building, and the Main Office is open for business. And during a lockdown, which is used only when there is an immediate threat of violence in or around the school, employees and students are directed to seek shelter in rooms that can be closed and fortified, move away from windows and doors, turn off lights, and remain silent. Please share the images above and below in your newsletters and on your websites and social media channels. If you haven’t already, check out the resources we’ve made available on our Think Safe website and these explainer videos on the Canyons District YouTube channel:
What Happens in a Lockdown
What Happens During a School Evacuation
What Happens When Schools Shelter In Place
DIR-S UPDATE: The DIR-S rollout is on track to wrap up this fall. The District offices and final feeder systems are scheduled to come online in October and November with Canyons’ new panic button app, which will empower school employees to communication in real-time during an emergency. For now, each school’s system is only visible to that school. This enables schools to practice and conduct their regular drills using the app without running the risk of inadvertently activating CSD’s emergency protocols and summoning law enforcement. Stay tune for more as we look to finalize the districtwide go live date for connecting all schools to the Incident Command team and police agencies.
