• A positive school climate fosters youth development and academic achievement, as well as the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for students to be responsible and productive members of society. All learners want and need to be safe and happy, to be supported, cared for, valued, appropriately challenged and engaged in ways that touch hearts as well as minds.
  The GIPS Safety and Crisis teams work to develop and implement protocols to keep students and staff safe. GIPS has a safety committee that meets four times a year and a community safety committee that meets one a year whose members include parents, law enforcement, and local first responders, teachers, administrators, mental health professionals, custodians, school nurses, local emergency managers, Information Technology managers, school transportation personnel, and students. These committees review the district safety plan, review incident and accident data to update procedures and resources. 

• GIPS has teams of professionals supporting students and staff such as our Suicide Intervention Team, Threat Assessment Team, Crisis Teams, and District Safety Coordinators. School Resource Officers are also a critical component of the GIPS safety team.  Grand Island Public Schools has entered into an agreement, Memorandum Of Understanding, with the Grand Island Police Department to have officers stationed in our schools for immediate emergency response as needed.
  A critical ingredient in the safe school recipe is the uniform classroom response to an incident at school. The Grand Island Public Schools use the Standard Response Protocol (SRP). 

• Weather events, fires, accidents, intruders and other threats to student safety are scenarios that are planned and trained for by school and district administration and staff. Each school conducts safety drills so that students and staff can learn the procedures and the Safety Team can identify areas to improve. There are four specific actions that can be performed during an incident.

  • When you hear it, Do it!

  • LOCKDOWN! Locks, Lights, Out of Sight

  • SECURE! Secure the perimeter

  • EVACUATE! To announced or pre-confirmed location

  • SHELTER! Tornado, Hazmat, Earthquake, . . .

When a school is in a crisis situation, parents are asked to stay away so that first responders can work. Parents are encouraged to follow district media for information updates and how to connect with students. The Grand Island Public Schools safety and crisis protocols have been reviewed and recognized as outstanding by the Nebraska Department of Education.
For further information regarding the Grand Island Public Schools Crisis Response Plan, please reach out to me directly.
- Dan Petsch,
GIPS Safety Director - dpetsch@gips.org