KCSD leaders train, practice for potential school emergencies

Aug. 19, 2024 / Bonanza Elementary Principal Jessica DeLonge and Gearhart School Vice Principal Melissa Nixon, wearing reflective vests and hard hats and armed with radios and flashlights, systematically searched Mazama High School, classroom by classroom, reporting in as they cleared rooms.

Within minutes, they had found two “students,” represented by district staff, and radioed fellow team members to help them from the building.

Meanwhile, Falcon Heights Principal Joe Tacchini in a team role of building manager searched the school for a potential fire, and finding a real, though controlled and outside practice blaze, he used a fire extinguisher to put it out and report to incident command.

The three were among Klamath County School District administrators who spent two days last week training to use the district’s emergency response plan and create emergency response teams within their schools to do everything possible to protect students and staff during a natural disaster or other emergency.

The drill was set up to be as realistic as possible. The team’s appointed building managers immediately checked for fires – and found one – which they put out with fire extinguishers. Staff posing as students were in classrooms and did not evacuate until they were found by the search and rescue team. Locations were set up for a medial triage, arrival of parents, and student evacuation.

“Families trust schools to keep their children safe during the school day,” said KCSD Superintendent Glen Szymoniak, who was in charge of the training. “The reality is schools may be touched either directly or indirectly by a crisis at any time. Our emergency response plan is intended to provide schools a guide for prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.”

Szymoniak, while an administrator in Alaska, wrote the emergency response plan based on the FEMA model specifically for school districts. The plan is now used by districts throughout Alaska and the Northwest.

Helping Szymoniak with the training were members of the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office and Klamath County Fire District No. 1 as well as KCSD Safety and Risk Management administrator Steve Johnson.

School administrators were trained so they can use the system in their school buildings, training staff on team roles and responsibilities. 

On Thursday, administrators participated in hands-on workshops including building security, fire suppression, and the incident command system. On Friday, the leaders worked through two drills that included fire suppression, search and rescue, and communication to the incident commander. They practiced the roles necessary – building manager, search and rescue, security, communication, medical, staging – that are needed to keep students and staff as safe as possible in an emergency.

The district has provided the two-day training and hands-on drills three times in the past five years. Administrators and other staff also take an online FEMA class on the Incident Command System, and schools conduct drills to practice responses to a variety of emergencies, including natural disasters, intruders, active shooters, and bomb threats.