South Western School District

225 Bowman Road, Hanover, Pennsylvania 17331-4297 (717) 632-2500

***IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION***

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

For the safety of our Students and Facility we routinely perform drills throughout the district to be as prepared as we can in case of an emergency. These drills encompass a wide range of hazards including, but not limited too; fire, severe weather and intruder drills. On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 29, 2017 South Western School District along with local EMS will be performing a full evacuation of Baresville Elementary School to include a partial Parent-Child Reunification. This will allow the district to practice and evaluate our response to a hazard that would require the evacuation/relocation of students and staff. The scenario for this drill will be a gas leak in the immediate neighborhood that would prompt EMS to recommend an evacuation; thus causing all the children to be transported to Emory H. Markle Intermediate School at 225 Bowman Rd; Hanover, PA 17331. We are requesting parents/guardians of any 5th graders who are available to volunteer for the Parent-Child Reunification portion on the exercise at EHMIS. If you would like to be a participant please complete the attached form (you will only have an attachment if your child is in 5th grade).

·  If you decide to volunteer and have children in other grades be aware that you will not be able to pick them up, as only 5th graders will be part of the reunification process.

·  Please contact Baresville Elementary prior to Friday, March 24, 2017 if you have an appointment scheduled for your child that will cause them to be picked up and/or dropped off sometime after 11:30 AM to make arrangements. Please feel free to contact them if you feel there is anything we need to take into consideration regarding your child(ren) during the evacuation.

·  The dismissal of AM Kindergarten and arrival of PM Kindergarten will not be effected by the evacuation schedule, but PM Kindergarten will be included.

·  Please don’t forget to talk to your child(ren) prior to the drill to prepare them for what will be happening that day.

PLEASE NOTE: Only 5th graders whom parents/guardians volunteered will be participating in the reunification process. All other students will be returned to Baresville Elementary to complete their day and be dismissed as usual.

We ask that you please review the Parent/Child Reunification Process so you can have an understanding of what is expected of the SWSD Staff and you as a parent. The following is the information that is included in the Parent Handbook (which can also be found on our district website; www.swsd.k12.pa.us):

¨ Parent/Child Reunification Process

·  The concept of a Program/Child Reunification Process is the orderly and efficient process of reuniting children with their parents or guardians in response to a school-related or community emergency and/or crisis.

·  Goals of Parent/Child Reunification

o  The primary goals during an emergency for the district and emergency responders are life safety and life sustaining actions.

o  It is a secondary goal of this school district to reunite students with their families as soon as it is practical and tactically safe to do so after a potential emergency, crisis or other disaster.

o  Once the incident has stabilized, the parent/child reunification process will begin which will allow for the safe and orderly reunification of parents and children.

·  Communicating the Parent/Child Reunification Process

o  Pre-Incident

§  The district shall regularly make parents aware of the processes and procedures to follow for efficient parent/child reunification should an emergency, disaster or catastrophe impact the school district. Parents should be fully aware that processes will not be published since we cannot conceivably delineate exact locations and procedures for all potential emergencies that may occur. Parents need to complete emergency contact forms as requested by the district to assist in parent/child reunification when an emergency occurs and provide updates as necessary.

o  During an Incident

§  During an emergency, the district will utilize the news media, along with any notification and communications systems to notify parents of the emergency and appropriate parental actions to take. Such internal notification and communications systems could be any of the following: Email Notifications, Phone Calls, and/or Text Notifications.

o  Post-Incident

§  After an emergency has been stabilized or concluded, parental notification will be made using appropriate methods as determined by the superintendent or designee.

We appreciate your corporation while we conduct this drill.