Dolton 149 Urges Parents to Have Emergency Preparedness Plans

(Calumet City, IL) – As families prepare for the new school year, south suburban Dolton School District 149, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), and local emergency management agencies are encouraging parents to include emergency preparedness in back-to-school plans.

“Our first priority is the safety of our students when they are in our care,” said Dolton 149 Superintendent Dr. Shelly Davis-Jones. “To help ensure their safety, we also need the help of parents who can help us prepare their children for any, God forbid, emergency at school, by teaching them emergency preparedness.”

Dr. Davis-Jones has some tips for parents to consider:

• Ask your school where children will be taken in the event of an evacuation during school hours.
• Ensure your current emergency contact information is on file at your child’s school.
• Pre-authorize a friend or relative to pick up your children in an emergency and make sure the school knows who that designated person is.
• Teach children with cell phones about ‘Text First, Talk Later.’ Short, simple text messages, such as “R U OK?” and “I’m OK,” are more likely to get through than a phone call if phone service is unavailable immediately following an emergency. As phone congestion eases, you can follow up with a phone call to relay more information.

New this academic school year, Illinois state law requires schools to hold a minimum of three evacuations drills while students are present to better prepare students and personnel for emergencies. Specifically, within the first 90-days of the school year, Dolton 149 schools must conduct at least one law enforcement evacuation drill.

“Emergencies can occur any time of the day or night, including when children are in school,” said Acting IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau. “The start of a new school year is the perfect time to make sure you know your school’s plans for keeping students safe during an emergency and then talking to your child about those plans.”

For emergencies outside of school, such as storms or power outages, Dolton 149 Board President Darlene Gray Everett urges parents to be ready at home.

“While doing back to school shopping, consider picking up the essential items for an emergency preparedness kit at home,” said Gray Everett. “Every home or apartment should have the supplies needed to endure a disaster to care for children and the elderly, such as extra baby formula, diapers for infants and heart and blood pressure medicine for older family members.”

You can find a list of emergency kit essentials online at: https://www2.illinois.gov/ready/SiteCollectionDocuments/IHS_Disaster_Kit.pdf

In addition, a resource for Dolton 149 parents is the FEMA Weather app. This free app provides fast and reliable alerts from the National Weather Service. Best of all, the app can be tailored to offer alerts for up to five different locations.

Dolton 149 students returned to school on August 19.

davidormsby@davidormsby.com