One important emergency plan that you will want to have in place is what to do if your children’s school is evacuated. This is more common than many people realize. It is not always for a reason that is scary. They may send your children home early due to inclement weather or power outages. It may be due to a chemical spill nearby or some other type of disaster.
I taught school for a short while before staying home with my children. The first thing that was discussed every year was an evacuation plan, and what to do if the school was going to go into lock down mode. The first step you need to make in forming your family’s plan is to discover your school’s policies regarding these situations.
Next you will need to decide if you are going to pick up your children, or allow them to ride the bus home. You will need to decide which one of you will take time off of work to take care of your children, or find a place that they can stay at during these times. If you have children at multiple schools you will need to take that into account as well.
If you are having someone else pick up your child in such a situation, you will need to fill out paperwork at the school before hand. Your school will not release your child to anyone that is not listed on the registration form.
Depending on the situation it may be safer for your children to stay where they are until you can reach them. A few years ago there was a very strange storm where I lived. I live in the south, and no one here knows how to drive in winter weather. It snowed and it only stuck to the roads. Everyone panicked. They all got out onto the roads which packed down the snow and turned it into ice. The schools decided to begin sending students home. Children were stuck on buses in traffic. Several buses didn’t get children home until after 8:00 p.m. The buses had left before lunchtime. Several sets of students ended up staying the night at school, because the buses just couldn’t make it in the traffic. Parents were stranded on the roads as well. The freeway looked like a parking lot, as people abandoned their cars and walked or joined other people who had cars that were better able to negotiate the storm. This was a truly unique incident. Hopefully it will never repeat itself.
It made me realize however, that I might want to provide a small emergency snack in my child’s backpack. It also made me step back and realize everything that goes into providing for your child when the school is closed down during the day. I plan on having a network of people that I can trust to help me with my children at such a time.