SAFE SCHOOLS

Granite School District to hold reunification drill at Hunter Elementary

Oct 24, 2024, 12:37 PM | Updated: 7:25 pm

SOUTH SALT LAKE — On Thursday, the Granite School District will complete its first reunification drill of this school year.

The drill will happen later in the school day at Hunter Elementary.

The district said it would treat this drill like the real thing, with agencies and law enforcement showing up, streets locked down, and notices going out.

It is the kind of system you hope never has to be used, but in the case something were to happen outside or inside the school and students need to be back with their parents, this is the system in place.

“Every drill is different,” said Andrea Stringham, Granite School District spokesperson.

Granite School police outside of Hunter Elementary School for the drills

Granite School police outside of Hunter Elementary School for the drills. (KSL TV)

Stringham said once this drill starts, a notice will go out over the intercom letting teachers know. Students will then be moved from their classroom to a space together.

From there, parents are notified the drill is underway to come pick up their student.

“They need to have their ID with them. They need to be on the registration card which has been a really important thing. You can’t pick up a child if you’re not on their registration card,” Stringham said.

In case of emergency: Being prepared ahead of time is key.

“You might need more staff that are running back and forth to get the students,” Stringham said.

During times when seconds count, this drill allows room for those tweaks.

“This gives us a chance to see what’s working well. Gives us an opportunity to see what can be improved on, and so that way, we can have all the kinks worked out in the case that a real emergency happens,” Stringham said.

Stringham said the district typically does two of these reunification drills a school year.

Practice makes perfect

Kathlyn Anderson, the principal of Hunter Elementary School, had previously volunteered at a reunification drill at the end of last school year. She said seeing how “doable” it was gave her the confidence to implement the drill on her campus.

“I think that’s the real benefit of running the drills is it would be a stressful situation if we were running this in a real situation,” she said. “But these drills allow some levity and some practice to the event.

Anderson said parents had been notified about the drill for about a month and had emphasized to students as well that the drill would be taking place.

“I was really heavy on informing our kids what was happening and asking them to inform parents, because I think our kids are experts at running drills at school,” she said.

Signs in English and Spanish directing parents on what do to in the drill.

Signs in English and Spanish directing parents on what to do in the drill. (KSL TV)

Within the first hour of the drill, a majority of the 430 students enrolled had their parents participate.

“I try to spend as much time in the lunchroom as I can, and that’s where I was getting a lot of questions like, ‘Why are we doing this drill? What’s the purpose of this drill?’ And ‘I just kept reiterating, like, practice makes perfect.”

Anderson noted Hunter Elementary School has a big Spanish-speaking population, which is one of the school’s strengths.

“If we were to do it again, I would just make sure we had more people on site, that we could communicate to all of our families. And that’s not just, Spanish speaking that’s for all the languages spoken here.”

Regardless, parents like Miguel Llave appreciated the drill, giving him confidence the school was doing what it could to keep his two daughters safe.

“You can tell it’s secure and organized,” Llave said in Spanish.

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Granite School District to hold reunification drill at Hunter Elementary