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School Safety
Providing a safe learning environment in each of our schools for all of our students and employees is a top priority for the School Town of Highland.
In 2018-19, the STOH's District Safety Committee revised our safety plans, utilizing the I Love You Guys Standard Response Protocol as the cornerstone of those plans.Since its introduction in 2009, the Standard Response Protocol has been adopted by districts, departments and agencies across the US and Canada. The conformance to FEMA guidance about plain language and the simplicity of implementation has resulted in thousands of schools and law enforcement agencies implementing the program.
While some of our safety practices that are part of our crisis and emergency plans must remain confidential, we are able to share the general SRP that provides the foundation of our district and school plans.
STOH Standard Response Protocol K12
I Love You Guys is constantly revising/updating their safety materials based on feedback from users and researchers. Those changes are discussed at our District Safety Committee meetings and integrated into our plan if they meet our safety needs. Accordingly, the District's protocol will be revised over the summer to include two new elements: Hold and Reunify.
The State of Indiana requires each school corporation in the state to have at least one certified school safety specialist. Currently, the School Town of Highland has 8 certified specialists and during 2019-20 school year will add 4 more. To become certified, a safety specialist must complete a rigorous five-day basic training conducted by national school safety experts in conjunction with the Indiana Department of Education. To maintain certification, each specialist must attend two days of training each school year. Trainings are based on national best practices in school safety and security.
In addition, all STOH staff are required to view safety training videos annually. The videos cover a variety of safety-related topics.
Emergency Drills
Indiana Code requires each school to conduct monthly fire drills, one severe weather drill per semester, and one man-made occurrence drill per semester.
The best way to ensure student and staff safety is to stop events before they happen. If you have information about a threat to our safety (weapons, drugs, harassment...any safety concern), please report it!
CALL 219-922-2273