Danville School Board Vice President Dr. Randal Ashton says the district is confident it can handle emergency situations. ‘’We can’t prevent everything from happening, but we can try to be prepared,’’ said Ashton as the Danville School Board and administration said last night that it stands united with Mattoon Public Schools. Mattoon schools recently experienced a school shooting.
Danville Superintendent Alicia Geddis says the local schools are working with a university consultant reviewing how to address crisis situations. ‘’There are really like three components to that project. One: – classroom curriculum — teaching our teachers and our staff how to mitigate circumstances without escalating (them). That’s a really important piece. And then we have an advocacy council where we get a student view about what’s going on. The students are using Channel One helping other students understand the difference between emotional and physical safety and the barriers to the physical and emotional safety,’’ said Geddis.
And Superintendent Geddis adds District 118 is developing a new app. ‘’Where once upon a time we had the ability to do the reporting hot lines, that’s not the student we’re dealing with now. They are very technologically savvy, and so we’re developing the app where they can report any concerns that they have or anything they are experiencing.’’
Superintendent Geddis says parents will also play a key role. ‘’You know back in our day – we could turn it off. If there was something going on at school you got a break when you came home. Well that’s not necessarily so for our students because they are constantly connected via social media,’’ said Geddis. ‘’So we’re going to help our parents help the students navigate emotional responses to the social pressures that they are experiencing, because we need our parents to re-tool and know how to better serve them so they can help us.’’
And Superintendent Geddis says District 118 will offer parents tips through upcoming Parent University meetings. At their last board meeting the Danville School Board agreed to secure a new app that will help communicate information to teachers and staff members in the event of an emergency.
Superintendent Geddis adds the district also has an emergency plan which is practiced in the schools. ‘’Every year we review the crisis plans. We go into the schools – our teachers review them. We update them as things change – buildings change. And so it’s a living, breathing document – it’s not something we put on a shelf. (It’s) So that we are prepared – as best as we can be – for emergency responses,’’ added Geddis.
