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[Sponsored content] Worried about school safety? Ask these five questions at open house.

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Gone are the days of simple fire drills at school. Today, we live in a world where our children have to practice active shooter lockdown drills. In the wake of recent tragedies, now happening too frequently to ignore, school safety is a paramount issue. We can no longer hide from it. In order to prevent incidents like these, we have to foster conversations with our school administration, our children and other parents. 

With the start of a new school year, many parents will be attending open house events this month. To help you prepare, we sought out the expertise of father-son safety duo, Jeff and Kelly LeDuff from OpenEyes. With 30-plus years of law enforcement experience and the latest emergency alert technology, Jeff and Kelly partner with schools and industry leaders to provide emergency safety training and the latest in emergency alert technology and rapid communication, as well as emergency prevention and response consulting services.

We need to know how our children are being prepared so that when they come home from school after practicing lockdown drills, we can talk it through. We can’t be afraid to have these conversations if we want to protect our children. 

As a parent, it is important that you know the method of communication between the school and law enforcement in an emergency. Jeff and Kelly have a simple solution in their BluePoint alert devices.

“There’s technology out there, like BluePoint, that allows communication with law enforcement and can visually display real-time information on where teachers are located within the building, where the alert was initiated in the building and more,” says Kelly.

OpenEyes has already installed these BluePoint systems in some smart local schools, so look for the blue box at open house. Contact Jeff and Kelly to learn about the BluePoint or to help train and protect your students and faculty at haveopeneyes.com. In the mean time, here are five questions you should ask to assess the safety on your school campus.

  1. Do parents have access to information about the number and nature of violent acts, such as student fights or other safety violations that take place at school?
  2. Who is the person in charge of school safety? How can you contact them when something happens or when a policy question arises?
  3. How are students taught safety procedures? What happens during
    the lockdown drill? 
  4. Are there anti-bullying programs in place? Are troubled students quickly referred to professionals who can help them? 
  5. What is the coordination between the school and local first responders in emergency situations? Are there provisions to maintain clear lines of communication in different emergency scenarios?

 

For detailed information on the services OpenEyes provides,
visit their website at 
haveopeneyes.com