Dear Parent(s) or Guardian(s):
The safety and welfare of our students and staff are our highest priority. The Midland School District, the Lacon Police Department, Marshall County Sheriff Department, the Lacon-Sparland Fire Department, and the Varna Fire Department have prepared for Illinois Mandated emergency response drills. To provide our school an opportunity to practice emergency response procedures, our students and staff will participate in district-wide emergency preparedness drills, including severe storm drills, fire evacuation drills, and intruder drills the week of September 3rd through September 6th. The intruder drill will be a lock-down-evacuation drill. The local agencies mentioned above will be participating in the drills. They will be assisting and assessing the staff and student responses to the different emergencies.
The goals of these drills are to improve our ability to protect students, save lives, and reduce injuries. Drills allow us to evaluate our emergency crisis plans and improve our response skills. The State of Illinois requires all the above drills to be completed each year. The specific dates and times of drills will not be announced. You would only be notified if there were a real emergency. We will do our best to reduce possible student anxiety by preparing them prior to an intruder-lockdown-evacuate drill, and making these drills age appropriate.
We also recommend that you discuss your family’s home preparedness plan with your children. You can find information on disaster preparedness on FEMA’s website http://www.ready.gov. The American Red Cross also has outstanding materials. You can obtain Red Cross materials are available in English or in Spanish from their website: http://www.redcross.org
If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to call your child’s school.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Gauwitz
Midland CUSD #7