I wanted to take a minute to share with you how Jarrell ISD makes the decision to act during periods of inclement weather and what goes on behind the scenes in those situations.
As you know, today we had a Tornado Warning issued around 9:20. At that time, dangerous storms were located west of us and rotations occurred in the Andice area. Like most of you, several JISD staff members (especially district and campus administrators) have warning alerts set on their phones from a variety of weather apps. In addition, when we know that there is inclement weather, we begin monitoring via computers and television. When those alerts went off this morning, we sprang into action, seeing what was occurring and determining our course of action. When it was determined that there was a good chance that tornado activity was possible, we called out to our campuses and had them go ahead and activate their tornado plan. Each campus has its own plan and campus staff is instructed to take cover accordingly. At the same time, central office staff is coordinating with our other departments (Transportation, Maintenance, Custodial, and Technology) to make sure those employees are notified and take the necessary precautions. At JISD, we are concerned about not only the safety of our students, but also our staff.
As the campuses were taking their precautions, we also started communicating with both the Jarrell Police Department and the Jarrell Fire Department. We recently worked with these two agencies to make sure that we could communicate with them on our radio system. This allows us greater flexibility and also allows us to get up to date information from them if something was to occur. During today’s incident, I was in communication with both the Fire Chief and Police Chief at different points during the situation, each of us giving updates to each other. This type of assistance is paramount to ensuring the safety of our students and staff.
As the warnings came to a close, we informed our staff that they could return to normal. Our staff and students did a great job. All of them are commended. In particular, if you are a parent of a student, please commend them – as the word I kept hearing from our staff was that our students were very well behaved. That is sometimes difficult in situations like these.
During the situation, we try to post announcements on our district Facebook page as well as the district SchoolWay notification system. We want to keep our parents informed as much as possible. If you or any of your friends do not use these tools, please share this with them. Our JISD Facebook page can be located at https://www.facebook.com/JarrellIndependentSchoolDistrict/ and you can sign up for the SchoolWay message system by going to http://myschoolway.com/jarrellisd.
In addition, I wanted to let parents know, in situations like these, once we have entered the lockdown portion of our drill, we do not release students to parents until the situation is over. We are working to protect all parties involved – and in a storm situation like today, oftentimes our school structures are one of the best places in which our children can be located. Releasing your child means having staff members out of the safe zones as well as possibly endangering you and your child while in the vehicle.
Our number one priority is the safety of our students. We appreciate you helping keep them safe, and understanding that all JISD staff members are dedicated to keeping your children safe so that we can return them to you.
If you have any questions about any of these procedures, please feel free to contact us and ask.
As you know, today we had a Tornado Warning issued around 9:20. At that time, dangerous storms were located west of us and rotations occurred in the Andice area. Like most of you, several JISD staff members (especially district and campus administrators) have warning alerts set on their phones from a variety of weather apps. In addition, when we know that there is inclement weather, we begin monitoring via computers and television. When those alerts went off this morning, we sprang into action, seeing what was occurring and determining our course of action. When it was determined that there was a good chance that tornado activity was possible, we called out to our campuses and had them go ahead and activate their tornado plan. Each campus has its own plan and campus staff is instructed to take cover accordingly. At the same time, central office staff is coordinating with our other departments (Transportation, Maintenance, Custodial, and Technology) to make sure those employees are notified and take the necessary precautions. At JISD, we are concerned about not only the safety of our students, but also our staff.
As the campuses were taking their precautions, we also started communicating with both the Jarrell Police Department and the Jarrell Fire Department. We recently worked with these two agencies to make sure that we could communicate with them on our radio system. This allows us greater flexibility and also allows us to get up to date information from them if something was to occur. During today’s incident, I was in communication with both the Fire Chief and Police Chief at different points during the situation, each of us giving updates to each other. This type of assistance is paramount to ensuring the safety of our students and staff.
As the warnings came to a close, we informed our staff that they could return to normal. Our staff and students did a great job. All of them are commended. In particular, if you are a parent of a student, please commend them – as the word I kept hearing from our staff was that our students were very well behaved. That is sometimes difficult in situations like these.
During the situation, we try to post announcements on our district Facebook page as well as the district SchoolWay notification system. We want to keep our parents informed as much as possible. If you or any of your friends do not use these tools, please share this with them. Our JISD Facebook page can be located at https://www.facebook.com/JarrellIndependentSchoolDistrict/ and you can sign up for the SchoolWay message system by going to http://myschoolway.com/jarrellisd.
In addition, I wanted to let parents know, in situations like these, once we have entered the lockdown portion of our drill, we do not release students to parents until the situation is over. We are working to protect all parties involved – and in a storm situation like today, oftentimes our school structures are one of the best places in which our children can be located. Releasing your child means having staff members out of the safe zones as well as possibly endangering you and your child while in the vehicle.
Our number one priority is the safety of our students. We appreciate you helping keep them safe, and understanding that all JISD staff members are dedicated to keeping your children safe so that we can return them to you.
If you have any questions about any of these procedures, please feel free to contact us and ask.