When the Superintendent or Emergency Management Officer determines that an emergency has occurred, there are three possible plans of action:

Go-Home Plan: Returns students to their homes and family as expeditiously as possible. Each school maintains names and contacts of emergency contacts for each child. That is why it is important to advise the building principal if the name or number of an emergency contact person changes. Elementary students are never returned to an unoccupied or unsupervised home. If there is no one at home to meet an elementary student, the child is returned to school and held until a parent or designated emergency adult picks the child up.

Shelter Plan: Keeps students in their buildings when it is safer to stay inside than to go out. Ordinarily, sheltering is considered a short-term solution, but each school is prepared to shelter students overnight if necessary. Specific areas of each building are identified as the safest for occupants. A part of the shelter plan will be a Stay-Put plan.

In this instance, all students will remain in their current classroom until otherwise notified. Students in school buildings who are not in classrooms will be escorted by staff to a supervised area and remain there until otherwise notified.

Evacuation Plan: Requires that all building occupants leave and go to an alternate location. Evacuation may mean only going outside and away from the building until an all-clear signal is given. In some circumstances, students and staff may need to be transported and housed temporarily in another location.

IF THERE IS AN EVACUATION, WHERE WILL STUDENTS GO?

In the event that students must be moved to an alternate location, the school will attempt to reach all parents to advise them of the alternate location. Each school has several alternatives, depending upon the severity of the emergency and the number of school buildings involved. Police, fire, and county and state authorities know of the alternate locations, but for security reasons it would be counter productive to advise of the alternate locations until an actual emergency occurs.

ARE THERE EMERGENCY
     PLANNING DRILLS?
   YES – At least once each year, the District conducts a test of its go-home (early dismissal) plan. This year, each school will conduct two sheltering drills and one stay-put drill. The sheltering and stay-put drills will be conducted at various times during the school day in order to give students and staff practice in what to do if they are not in their regular classroom. Transportation and communication tests are part of each drill. Additional drills and simulations will be conducted by each school’s crisis team – at the discretion of the building principal – several times throughout the year. The District believes that response is best when everybody knows their role and has opportunity to practice.

SHOULD I PICK UP MY CHILD AT SCHOOL
DURING AN
 EMERGENCY?

We strongly encourage parents
NOT
to come to the school during an emergency unless directed to do so.

While every person’s natural instinct in an emergency is to go to the school to safeguard his/her child, please understand that doing so may significantly degrade the school’s ability to respond to the situation. In addition, going to the school may interfere with police or other emergency workers whose sole purpose is to assure the safety and well being of students and staff. Vehicles driving to the school, for example, will restrict access of emergency vehicles or school buses that are loading children for evacuation or to take them home. The building’s staff will be actively working at all times to ensure the safety of all students. While it may seem logical that every student taken home by a parent reduces the workload of the staff, in a fast-moving situation that requires careful coordination and communication, extra vehicles and visitors to the school actually make the task of keeping track of all students more difficult.

WHAT PROVISIONS ARE MADE FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES?

Each school has a detailed plan of action that includes evacuation of students or staff who have special needs.

WHERE CAN I GET INFORMATION DURING AN EMERGENCY?

Chances are that you may not be able to reach the school by telephone in a real emergency. Experience shows that staff must react to the emergency first. District telephone lines will be busy with personnel who need to communicate to emergency services. We will, however, be making every effort to contact parents directly by telephone, through our automated telephone system, and through postings on the website.  Principals have each child’s emergency contact information that they will keep with them during an emergency.

The District’s website, www.commackschools.org, will post updates throughout the course of an emergency. The news media (radio stations WBAB. WBLI, WHLI, WINS, WCBS, WALK, and News 12) will be contacted and kept up-to-date on all developments, and will be asked to broadcast important information needed by parents, just as they do when inclement weather forces school closings. Other sources of information are PTA building presidents, who will be among the first contacted by the school. The Superintendent and/or principal may ask parent organizations to assist in disseminating information.

WHAT CAN I DO TO PLAN AHEAD?

The two most important things you as a parent can do are to make certain your child’s school has up-to-date emergency contact information, and to periodically review with your child alternative arrangements you have made in case an emergency prevents you from being at home.

Being prepared for emergencies is not only a requirement of the State, but is also taken very seriously by the staff and administration of Commack Union Free School District. The District has maintained an emergency management plan for each of its schools, a plan that is reviewed and revised annually, and after each emergency. This plan addresses an enormous range of issues, ranging from the mundane to have dealing with the onset of a crisis, to addressing the social, emotional, and psychological needs of staff and students in its aftermath.

The purpose of this guide is to assist in answering some of the basic questions that parents frequently ask about during and after a crisis. Questions like: where do I get information; what should I do during a crisis; and, who can I contact for help?

When disaster strikes, the first consideration for every Commack staff member is the safety of the children in our care. This guide provides a brief description of how the District will manage an emergency and how Commack parents can support our efforts during an emergency.
Questions about the information contained in this guide should be directed to your building principal.
SCHOOL TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Suffolk County Office of Emergency Management
American Red Cross
NYS Division of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency
LIPA
National Dept. of Homeland Security
New!! Dial 2-1-1 or www.211longisland.org 
Free, non-emergency info that connects LI residents to health and human services they may need on a daily basis or during a disaster.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Commack Union Free School District has established emergency and safety plans for each school in the District. Each of these plans is coordinated with police, fire, and other officials in county or state-wide agencies. There are five general categories that the plans address. They include:

Criminal Offenses such as bomb threats, kidnapping, or violent behavior

Natural hazards such as severe weather or earthquakes



Environmental hazards such as exposure to hazardous materials, explosions, fires, or plane crash

 

Medical emergencies such as contagious disease, exposure to biohazards, and accident or terminal illness of a student, parent, or staff member

Death or suicide of a student, staff member or family member