PRESS RELEASE
November 21, 2022
Crane Middle School Prepares for Reunification Drill
Yuma, AZ – Crane Middle School will conduct a large-scale reunification drill on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 with the help from the school, the Crane Elementary School District, and local law enforcement and first responders. Reunification is a process where students are reunited with their families after being evacuated from their school during an emergency, such as a natural disaster or a crisis at or near the school. This initiative is part of the Crane District’s federally approved Emergency Site Plan that is activated during a true emergency. Our event is only a drill. The District believes it is important to test the plan to understand what works and mitigate improvement strategies.
The drill will begin on campus in the morning, followed by an evacuation of participating students. They will be relocated to the reunification site located at the Ray Kroc Baseball Stadium on the Yuma Civic Center grounds. Once students are at the reunification site, parents/guardians will be able to pick up their student and take them home. For safety purposes, identification must be presented to authorized school and district personnel in order for any students to leave the the reunification site. Authorized parents and guardians must also be listed with the school office. Please note, students who are not participating will remain at school under teacher supervision and finish out their regularly scheduled school day.
We are taking this opportunity to test all protocols during the drill, including district communication procedures. In case of a real emergency, the school and district would update the community with information using the platforms at our disposal (email, social media, etc.)
The district will be posting updates on our social media outlets (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) tomorrow during the reunification drill. The community should not be alarmed if they see any of these posts. We are using this opportunity to practice our communication protocols so that we are familiar with the process in case of a true emergency. The updates will contain verbiage to indicate that it is only a drill.
We thank the families and students in advance for their time as they go through the process of reunification, as well as our participating local partners, and the public at large. The Crane Elementary School District is continually striving to provide a safe and secure environment for our student’s benefit, and reunification drills are one way to be proactive for potential emergency situations.
###