For the Tomahawk Leader

WISCONSIN – As part of comprehensive school safety training, the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety (OSS) announced on Monday, Jan. 23 that it is offering training to all Wisconsin schools on the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and Standard Reunification Method (SRM) during a school crisis response.

The SRP and SRM training provided by OSS is open to all community members in a participating school district. The training is one day and consists of both lecture and hands on scenario practice. Any Wisconsin school or district can reach out to OSS to request the free training.

A release from DOJ said the procedures taught in the training are “practical, action-based responses given to any situation within a school community to standardize response and reunification.”

SRP provides standard vocabulary for all stakeholders to understand the response and status of an event. The vocabulary includes hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter.

• Hold is followed by a directive of where to hold, such as in a room or area, and is meant to keep hallways clear.
• Secure is followed by a directive such as “get inside and lock outside doors” and is meant to safeguard people inside the building.
• Lockdown is followed by the directive “locks, lights, out of sight,” and is meant to secure individual rooms and keep individuals quiet and out of sight.
• Evacuate may be followed be a location and is used to move individuals to a new location or out of the building.
• Shelter is followed by stating the hazard and safety strategy to keep everyone protected.

DOJ said having an SRM in place “helps to alleviate stress during a crisis response and ensures that schools maintain proper chain of custody for every student.”

“An SRM can be used during a variety of crisis responses, including fires, floods, tornados, threats and acts of violence to ensure students are reunified with their parents or guardians,” DOJ stated. “Successful planning and implementation of an SRM requires partnerships with all involved stakeholders that participate in crisis response.”

“This training is another example of the impactful, proactive work being done by the Office of School Safety,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “OSS is continually working to ensure that Wisconsin schools have a comprehensive toolkit to help keep kids safe.”