Cherokee School District Trains Staff for Emergencies

As part of its preparedness training, members of the Cherokee County School District's Emergency Response Team participated in a training exercise on Sept. 24 focused on student-parent reunification procedures, the school system reported today. The importance of these procedures becomes evident every time a random act of violence occurs at schools across the country.

The National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is held every September.

The Cherokee County School District team was formed in 2004 and includes personnel from across all school district departments.  More than 40 personnel on this team are assigned to student-parent reunification, which is a process used in any disaster or emergency scenario during the school day (such as a school building damaged by tornado or fire) when students must be evacuated to an off-site location and then reunited with parents.  The reunification training exercise was funded through a Federal Safe and Drug Free Schools Grant. 

Parents and guardians are reminded to annually verify that they have the correct emergency contact information on file with their child's school, including appropriate authorizations for persons allowed to pick up their child from school as well as current cell phone and work phone numbers.