With reunification life begins.
Amelia Barr
MOUNT VERNON — Danville Local Schools resource officer Rich Miller has planned for this moment.
With a clipboard in his right hand and a chatter-filled radio in the other, Miller walks into the elementary cafeteria, teachers and staff talking among themselves.
Eyes lock onto Miller like a moth to a flame. The reunification drill is about to begin.
“We’re all good to go,” Miller said into his radio.
“We are ready to roll,” the radio echoed back.
A reunification drill or plan is an organized effort to reunite a group during a disaster or emergency.
Reunification drills have become more common throughout the country, bringing a heightened awareness to school campus safety and plans if an emergency transpired where students and staff would need to evacuate the campus.
Mount Vernon City Schools’ Energy Fieldhouse was the reunification destination for Danville Local Schools.
The reunification process and drill is a multilayered operation with Danville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Eastern Knox Joint Fire District, Knox County Emergency Management Agency, Knox Community Hospital, Mount Vernon City Schools and Knox County Career Center making the drill operational.
An unidentified emergency scenario was called through Miller’s radio, alerting nearby law enforcement, fire and EMA and school officials.
Children and staff volunteers walked outside the building onto buses headed to the Energy Fieldhouse, ensuring everyone was accounted for.
Once arrived at the fieldhouse, students and volunteers gathered in their designated spots–awaiting instructions from staff.
Volunteers, acting as parents/guardians, are matched with their children once the duo has been confirmed. The “matchmaker” acts as the release agent for the child to go with the parent. In total, 33 kids were reunited during the drill.
The reason behind doing the drill without the full student body is to work out the process without the stress of having the entire campus involved, Miller said, adding the goal of the drill was to test out the procedures.
Knox County Emergency Management Agency Director JT DeChant applauded Danville’s drill, adding he wants the district to “keep the momentum moving forward.”
Before the drill began, DeChant added this is a “big stepping stone for the district and county.”
Two days separated from the drill, Miller said overall “everything went as well, or as good as expected.”
“The goal that we were trying to achieve, we achieve, and that was identifying what we needed to do to make or have a successful process and the areas that we needed to improve upon so that it would be a successful process. I think that goal was achieved.”
Miller sent a survey to staff Wednesday, asking for feedback on the drill, he said, hoping to develop feedback into the district’s next reunification drill.
The next drill isn’t scheduled in the calendar yet, Miller said, but he sees it happening within two years.
A point of improvement already on Miller’s mind is decreasing communication gaps during the drill, he said.
“If you break it down and analyze each part of the process, there’s always a little bit better ways that you can conduct business to make it more simple and understandable for everybody,” Miller said. “We definitely had a good understanding of what we need in place to make us successful.”