A few hours after the October firestorms began, Carlsbad High School was operating as a much-needed evacuation center. Principals, board members, faculty and students, along with Carlsbad police, recreation employees and other volunteers, staffed the center 24/7.
Among the many people I met was Rose Marie Peralta, a special education assistant at Fallbrook High School. Peralta had evacuated from Fallbrook with her neighbor, three kids and a cat.
“This is like one big slumber party,” Peralta said. “Food, entertainment and I don't have to clean up! Carlsbad is a great district and a great community.”
In times of crisis, families help one another. That is precisely what happened, within our Carlsbad Unified School District family and with our “extended family”, the city of Carlsbad and community at large. The disaster was enormous, but our collective response was swift and effective.
Our district plans and prepares for emergencies to ensure we can provide a timely, integrated, coordinated response to manmade and natural disasters. Every school has an emergency plan. We conduct drills on multiple scenarios, from an earthquake to a campus shooter.
The Carlsbad Police Department is a partner, providing three full-time resource officers when school is in session. Our principals, assistant principals and counselors are well-trained in threat assessment, enabling us to determine appropriate levels of response to potentially volatile situations like a student bomb threat.
More than 55 district staff members, including principals, assistant principals, counselors, psychologists and school resource officers, have engaged in at least one day of threat assessment and violence prevention training conducted by Dr. Kris Mohandie, an internationally recognized expert on threat assessment and school violence.
At the beginning of each school year, every principal participates in emergency and disaster planning using the PPRR model: preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies and disasters. This year, training will be expanded to teachers and classified staff who will participate in activities that include disaster response teams, first aid/CPR and joint drills with police and fire personnel.
We've harnessed the power of technology. Our ConnectEd system passed the test during the fires, with a 91.3 percent success rate to more than 15,000 contacts.
We notified staff and students that school would be cancelled for the week, then re-notified them it would open after extensive cleaning had been
accomplished. We can use the system in a more concentrated situation, such as a lockdown at an individual school, and can transmit messages in English and Spanish.
For parents whose students attend our schools, we want you to know that emergency preparedness is part of our wider curriculum. It is something we practice and are ready to put into action at a moment's notice, as we did in October.
You also can be assured that the meticulous planning the district devotes to emergency preparedness is part of our efforts to modernize Carlsbad High School, build an additional high school and perform district-wide renovations. At 50 years old, Carlsbad High is no spring chicken, but it responded with a youthful vigor in providing a safe home for hundreds of grateful evacuees.
As Rosie Peralta said, Carlsbad is a great community, and we at the district are proud to play an active, empathetic role in our community.
Among the many people I met was Rose Marie Peralta, a special education assistant at Fallbrook High School. Peralta had evacuated from Fallbrook with her neighbor, three kids and a cat.
“This is like one big slumber party,” Peralta said. “Food, entertainment and I don't have to clean up! Carlsbad is a great district and a great community.”
In times of crisis, families help one another. That is precisely what happened, within our Carlsbad Unified School District family and with our “extended family”, the city of Carlsbad and community at large. The disaster was enormous, but our collective response was swift and effective.
Our district plans and prepares for emergencies to ensure we can provide a timely, integrated, coordinated response to manmade and natural disasters. Every school has an emergency plan. We conduct drills on multiple scenarios, from an earthquake to a campus shooter.
The Carlsbad Police Department is a partner, providing three full-time resource officers when school is in session. Our principals, assistant principals and counselors are well-trained in threat assessment, enabling us to determine appropriate levels of response to potentially volatile situations like a student bomb threat.
More than 55 district staff members, including principals, assistant principals, counselors, psychologists and school resource officers, have engaged in at least one day of threat assessment and violence prevention training conducted by Dr. Kris Mohandie, an internationally recognized expert on threat assessment and school violence.
At the beginning of each school year, every principal participates in emergency and disaster planning using the PPRR model: preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies and disasters. This year, training will be expanded to teachers and classified staff who will participate in activities that include disaster response teams, first aid/CPR and joint drills with police and fire personnel.
We've harnessed the power of technology. Our ConnectEd system passed the test during the fires, with a 91.3 percent success rate to more than 15,000 contacts.
We notified staff and students that school would be cancelled for the week, then re-notified them it would open after extensive cleaning had been
accomplished. We can use the system in a more concentrated situation, such as a lockdown at an individual school, and can transmit messages in English and Spanish.
For parents whose students attend our schools, we want you to know that emergency preparedness is part of our wider curriculum. It is something we practice and are ready to put into action at a moment's notice, as we did in October.
You also can be assured that the meticulous planning the district devotes to emergency preparedness is part of our efforts to modernize Carlsbad High School, build an additional high school and perform district-wide renovations. At 50 years old, Carlsbad High is no spring chicken, but it responded with a youthful vigor in providing a safe home for hundreds of grateful evacuees.
As Rosie Peralta said, Carlsbad is a great community, and we at the district are proud to play an active, empathetic role in our community.