FRHSD emergency plans
draw praise from county
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
Accolades have been given to the Freehold Regional High School District for its emergency crisis plan.
Harry Conover, coordinator of the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management, praised the district’s administrators for their emergency preparedness.
"This is definitely one of the better prepared school systems in the county," Conover said, referring to the district’s crisis management plan and emergency procedures. "I would like to see each town and school prepare an emergency operations manual similar to this."
Recently, Conover reviewed the district’s booklet of crisis management instructions and procedures.
"The booklet is a condensed version of the district’s full emergency plan," said Superintendent of Schools James Wasser. "It tells staff exactly what to do and how to react in the event of a crisis."
Some of the topics addressed in the condensed version of the plan include medical emergencies; bomb threats; lost or missing students and kidnapping; gas leaks; hazardous materials; natural disasters; bus accidents; utility failure; field trip incidents; and what to do when there is a lockdown due to intruders either inside or outside the school building.
Conover explained that local department activities are mostly about awareness.
"Today, everyone in the community has to be vigilant," he said. "I always thought that a hurricane would bring this [emergency management] department into the forefront, but 9/11 proved me wrong."
Conover described how that disaster moved the emergency management team from the county’s public works department to the prosecutor’s office.
When asked about the required three days of food and supplies that schools have been advised to maintain, Conover admitted that he had no idea how that number was derived.
"Even in Washington, no one seems to know why three days," he said. "Maybe it’s based on the fact that during a hurricane, communities are instructed to make sure they have sufficient supplies for 72 hours."
Conover also supported the district’s decision to cancel out-of-state trips unless each student is chaperoned by a relative.
"It makes sense during times of war," he said, noting that national landmarks, typically visited on class trips, have a risk factor.
According to Conover, the declaration of a red alert terror threat will be site specific.
"No one will be locked down unless the threat is right in their back yard," he said, adding that during a red alert school administrators will be told what to do by their local law enforcement office, which receives specific instructions from the prosecutor’s office.