During the 2023 Legislative Session, Utah lawmakers passed HB140, which streamlines school drills and procedures for incidents and threats. These can include a range of potential disruptions during a school day and are designed to ensure the safety of students, educators, and emergency responders.
This Standard Response Protocol (SRP) has been around for several years and is considered the gold standard for incident response in schools by some. It comes from the I Love U Guys Foundation, a non-profit organization created in 2006 following a school shooting in Colorado that took the life of Emily Keyes. A final text message to her parents became the name of this Foundation and has inspired them to dedicate school safety efforts to her memory.
Per state law, American Leadership Academy will communicate and reinforce the SRP system with students and their families annually. This includes drills, specific strategies, and preparations that institutionalize SRP for our ALA community.
The SRP system is simple and made up of five commands. A directive follows each. The commands and directives are a shared language – meaning all students and educators will come to understand them completely, with no confusion. SchoolMessenger communication channels will be used to notify families if an incident significantly alters a school day.
The following are THE SRP 5 COMMANDS:
- HOLD Initial Public Announcement: “Hold in your room or area. Clear the halls.”
Schools will restrict student movement in the building to their current location, take role, and resume activities. Students in the hallways will join the nearest secure room.
Examples: Medical issues, altercations, unfinished maintenance operations, or other disruptions.
- SECURE Initial Public Announcement: “Secure! Get inside. Lock outside Doors.”
Schools will lock exterior doors, restrict student movement to inside the building, take roles, and resume activities.
Examples: Nearby criminal activity, civil unrest, wild animal, or other exterior disruptions.
- LOCKDOWN Initial Public Announcement: “Lockdown! Locks, lights, out of sight.”
Schools will restrict student movement to their current location, take role, turn off lights, and move students to a pre-designated area that is out of immediate visibility.
Examples of Use: Campus intruder, active assailant, wild animal entering the building, or other elevated incidents.
- EVACUATE Initial Public Announcement: “Evacuate to … [specified location].”
Schools will direct students to leave the building, gather at pre-designated locations, and take role. Students not with their class will join the nearest group.
Examples of Use: Power outages, compromised facility safety, or threats of violence.
- SHELTER Initial Public Announcement: “Shelter for … [specified incident and instruction].”
Schools will direct students to take shelter at specific locations, depending on the disruption, where role will be taken.
Examples of Use: Possibly Hazmat spills, earthquakes, flooding, lightning, or other severe weather conditions.
5 Ways Families Can Help
We recognize school safety and potential incidents shared here are unpleasant topics. But your cooperation and support are critical to the execution of SRP. Here are five ways you can help ensure the safety of all students, educators, and emergency responders:
Official Sources for Communication: If an incident unfolds, you will be notified through SchoolMessenger communication channels (ie email, SMS/Text, and phone caller). Social media and the school or district website will NOT always be an immediate channel for communication. They will be relied on as secondary communication sources. Some information takes time to verify to ensure accuracy – be patient as we prepare and release information. And please resist sharing information from unconfirmed sources.
Stay Home: Parents are advised not to come to the school. Doing so can endanger yourself, students, educators, and first responders. Professional emergency responders are trained to handle incidents and threats – they need to focus on keeping kids and educators safe.
Do Not Call the School: As you can imagine, managing the safety of students and educators is paramount. We will get communications out via SchoolMessenger as soon as information is available.
Be Ready: When reunification with your student is necessary, it must be conducted swiftly and orderly. Again, SchoolMessenger will be the tool for communicating those instructions. Please make sure you have opted-in for texting and all your emergency contacts are correct in our SIS system. Please stand by for instructions and be prepared to act on them quickly.
Avoid Immediate Communications with Students: Understand that some incidents are volatile or evolving when you first learn about them. Do not call or text your student at that moment, as phone notifications could jeopardize their safety and/or compromise the instruction they are given to remain quiet during an incident.
Additional Thoughts
There are some very important ways you can support your students and protect all students and educators.
First, if you see something, say something. Students and their families often know about potential or real conditions and threats first. Even if you are unsure if a threat is credible, please report it to school, and/or law enforcement officials.
Second, keep an open channel of communication with your student. Talk with them regularly about safety prevention and response topics. Rehearse with them these SRP protocols so they are instinctive.
And third, if they experience an incident, talk with them about it. Help them process it openly so that they feel heard and understood.
Thank you for your support of this new SRP program. Preparedness is the key to safety. ALA values our partnership with you and our first responders to keep students prepared and safe.
