Crisis Management and Response Plan

Holy Family has a Crisis Management and Response Plan in place to protect our community’s children. Our teachers and other staff members are prepared to act in the best interest of the students in the event of a crisis.

We hope the following “Questions and Answers” will assure you that the children are safe at school. We will continue to work with our local police department and other agencies to ensure our primary responsibility of protecting students, faculty and staff.

SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is Holy Family School prepared for a crisis?

Holy Family has a Crisis Management and Response Plan on file to address several types of emergency/critical incidents. Our plans include procedures for many types of emergencies including, but not limited to, fires, severe weather, unwanted visitors in buildings, bomb threats, and biological/chemical incidents. We endeavor to be prepared for any emergency that could affect the Holy Family community and our Crisis Plans reflect the diversity of these critical incidents. School officials review and revise emergency plans annually and continue to consult local emergency authorities for updates. Students and staff practice emergency drills to keep our students aware of the need to move quickly in an emergency.

Why is the Crisis Management and Response Plan not published here?

Law Enforcement officials discourage schools from publishing their safety plans to the community in order to keep them from reaching the wrong audience.

What signs can I see that a plan is in place?

If you look around our campus, you might notice the summary plan that is posted in all of our classrooms and hallways.

What should I do if I am in school during a drill or a crisis?

If you in school during a drill, please follow the directions of the closest staff or faculty member. If you are in school during an emergency, if possible you should follow the instructions of the nearest staff or faculty member or the instructions posted.

What types of reactions will the school have in an emergency and how will I be informed?

If the emergency occurs when the students are NOT in school (severe weather, for example) and the school day will be affected, you will be notified via the OptionC phone or email alert system. Please make sure your emergency contact information is always current in OptionC.

If a non-life-threatening emergency occurs during school time that requires school to close early (snow or a loss of heat, for example), you will be contacted via OptionC and be told of your dismissal options.

If a life-threatening situation arises, the students, faculty, and staff will either shelter-in-place in the basement or interior room (during a tornado, for example), evacuate (during a fire, for example), or lockdown (armed threat in the neighborhood, for example). In any of these situations, information will be communicated to you by either phone, email, or via the website as expeditiously as possible when it is safe to do so.

If an emergency incident were to occur, could children be picked up right away?

In a non-life-threatening situation (snow or loss of power, for example), you may pick your child up at school once an official announcement is made. Only parents, or someone authorized in writing by a parent, may pick up a child at school.

In a life-threatening emergency, emergency management officials, not Holy Family employees, would be in control of the situation, and we would follow the instructions given to us by them. It is our understanding that they would not release anyone until determining that it was safe to do so. Anyone picking up a child—including parents—would need to have a photo I.D. in this case. Parents would be told where to report for assistance.