Warren County School Board approves crisis response, medical emergency plans

WCSB discusses its 2019-2020 Crisis Management Plan and Medical Emergency Response Plan. Photo and video by Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

FRONT ROYAL—The Warren County School Board on August 21 passed its 2019-2020 Crisis Management Plan and Medical Emergency Response Plan, which includes several changes and additions for this school year.

Chief among the new items, according to Michael Hirsch, director of special services for Warren County Public Schools (WCPS), is a handbook of guidelines to support students with allergies.

“Allergies have really, really become a hot topic for us,” Hirsch told the school board during their Tuesday, August 20 work session. “We have students with significant allergies and we actually created an allergy guideline that’s part of our plan.”

The Guidelines for Supporting Students with Allergies is a comprehensive document developed by a task force that included all school nurses, school board members, school staff, school administration and representatives, “and a whole host of parents,” Hirsch said.

One of the most important players on the task force was the School System’s Food Service, “which really helped develop the plan and changed some of the things we’re doing even in the cafeteria to support people with allergies,” Hirsch said, adding, “We’ve changed practice – it’s very exciting.”

The overall Crisis Management Plan is intended to give WCPS staff guidelines and pre-planned responses to a variety of emergencies and include school division procedures, responsibilities, contacts and a list of currently trained staff in first aid and CPR.

The plan also includes course of actions district staff can take for a lockdown, bomb threat, fire and death.

“Something new is if there are victims — if, God forbid, we do have something happen and there are victims — the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Virginia Criminal Injuries
Compensation Fund have to be notified immediately,” Hirsch said. “So, in our plan, there’s a policy and … responsibilities for all of us as school administrators that talk about” how to notify those contacts in case of such an event.

Regarding lockdowns and bomb threats, for instance, the crisis plan also outlines how staff responds clinically, he said.

“We respond clinically to all of those kinds things with school social workers and school psychologists. We also have social-emotional-behavioral coaches and our trauma counselor deal with those things. We have a plan to support teachers, support families and to support students,” Hirsch said.

In addition to allergies, the Medical Emergency Response Plan includes sample procedures for dealing with incidents related to diabetes, seizures and bee stings, among others. The plan also includes school-based plans and procedures that include contact lists, building blueprints and evacuation procedures for non-ambulatory students.

“Collaboration with county services, such as EMS, law enforcement, and fire and rescue, is ongoing,” Hirsch said, adding that regular meetings are held to share information and resources.

Hirsch also told the school members that the WCPS technology department, which is overseen by Tim Grant, should be commended for its role in student safety.

“The firewalls and the content filters to facilitate student safety are always being reviewed and approved,” said Hirsch, who added that WCPS tech personnel also attend cyber-security conferences and trainings.

“We know that that’s one of our biggest threats now,” Hirsch said. “The technology integration coaches train students on appropriate uses and safety,” all of which has become part of the Crisis Management Plan.

While WCPS staff prioritizes safety to support its students and staff every day, Hirsch said that as far as the state’s concerned, the district “must do our crisis plan certification and review by the 31st of August.”

Now that the school board has approved the plan, Hirsch said he will share it with chief law enforcement officers within the local police and sheriff’s departments, as well as with the fire chief and the person responsible for Emergency Medical response.

“They’re going to review it and provide feedback all year long as part of our division team. Then next year, their input will be part of this, as well,” he said. “And that’s good.”

View the video to watch the entire Warren County School Board meeting: