Parents4Preparedness
Lessons Learned
This unofficial document was created by members of Parents for Preparedness (P4P) based on what we’ve learned doing earthquake preparedness work at a handful of Portland schools. The contents of this document should be taken as word-of-mouth information and advice, not official Portland Public Schools (PPS) policy.
Most of our group members are parents from PPS, so this information centers around PPS issues, policies, and procedures. But we hope the content is useful for those in other districts as well.
If you do any of this work at your school, we encourage you to reach out to other P4P members on the Basecamp site for advice and support. And we hope you’ll share what you learn with us. As we learn more, we will continue to add to this document.
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1. FIRST STEPS
What has already been done at my school?
First, ask your Principal, Associate Principal, or staff member in charge of safety if there is anyone at your school working on seismic preparedness. Find out what, if anything, has been done to date. If there’s a seismic committee, join it. If not, talk to the PTA about forming a committee, or just find a friend to get to work.
Be sure to approach teachers and administrators about earthquake preparedness in a positive, supportive, and collaborative way. They care about your children, but they are under a lot of stress, are short on supplies and time, and must work within the policies and procedures of the district.
If you have a child in daycare, you may want to consider talking with them about these same concerns. Multnomah County created a terrific document that you can share with them: Child Care Center Crisis/Disaster Response Handbook.
How can I learn about my school’s structural safety?
Many parents first become concerned about earthquake safety when they send their young children into visibly aged school buildings and imagine earthquake damage like they have seen in news reports. This concern is not misplaced. Public schools in Portland average over 70 years old, built decades before Oregon’s earliest seismic building codes.
In this, schools are typical of Portland buildings, a high proportion of which were built before the region’s exposure to earthquake hazards was understood. While parents can readily gauge the age of the buildings their children attend, they cannot easily see the results of past efforts to make those buildings safer. Fortunately, a high proportion of Portland schools have received improvements like reinforcement and roof replacements that will make them safer in earthquakes than their vintage alone might suggest.
Unfortunately, they are still old buildings and still prone to damage that can potentially endanger students and teachers. This is an unsettling reality of the built environment that we inhabit in Portland.
Parents seeking information online about the structural condition of their child’s school are likely to encounter a bewildering array of data sources about school buildings, many of them presented without context and compiled at different times, and some of them conflicting. To summarize and explain the various data sources is beyond the scope of this document.
Can I find out more?
Two official sources with pertinent information for parents are:
What is the take-home message on the safety of buildings?
Lessons we’ve learned so far about the structural safety of schools include these:
- The structural safety of buildings is complex, difficult to summarize, and difficult to communicate. Some confusion is inescapable.
- PPS is deeply aware of the hazards posed by its aging buildings and has been working to address those hazards for more than 20 years.
- School buildings can only be strengthened when resources become available for these investments. That depends on school bond measures, which voters consider only every few years, and on small state grants for a few individual projects.
- Schools of all ages, types, and conditions have common needs including non-structural safety, emergency supplies, and safety drills. Addressing these needs can reduce the risks to students and teachers in any school, and every parent should consider helping to do so. Parents4Preparedness aims to help parents in that journey.
2. EARTHQUAKE DRILLS
What is it?
Drop/cover/hold, then evacuate.
Why do we need it?
Students and staff need muscle memory so that when they experience shaking, they know what to do.
Who is responsible for this?
All PPS schools are required to do this twice per year.
What is involved?
Kids should know to drop/cover/hold when they feel the earth shaking. If they are not near desks, they should be folded up on their knees with at least their head and necks covered. To cover their heads, they could use their hands, a notebook, or any other protective object.
Teachers should also do drop/cover/hold during the drill so that a) they can improve their own muscle memory, and b) they can model the correct position for students. It’s up to staff to explain the why to students in an age-appropriate manner. Some kids can't handle the scary stuff and they get anxious. It may be better for them to just follow directions and not worry about the why.
The first drill should be easy so that new teachers and students can get used to it. Start with two minutes of drop/cover/hold, followed by an evacuation of the building. The teachers should know about it in advance. Choose a time when everyone should be in a classroom. As you progress through the year, the drills can become less predictable. Kids might be in the garden, at lunch (mayhem!), or at recess.
There are other things to think about as well. Encourage your administration to practice a full drill - one in which the building is evacuated after the drop/cover/hold and the teachers all practice bringing their emergency buckets out with them. Make sure proper emergency exits are used. For instance, at Sunnyside the second-story fire escapes are not an acceptable means of egress after an earthquake. The students and teachers need to practice exiting differently based on the type of drill.
What challenges do we face?
While all schools are required to do it, they may not be doing it in the most effective way possible.
How can I help?
Remember to approach staff with sensitivity. No one likes to be told they are doing something wrong. Administrators can (and should) contact Molly Emmons at PPS for guidance on running an effective drill.
You can offer to assist with the drills and recruit volunteers to help. Consider inviting your Neighborhood Emergency Team to observe and assist. If they haven’t already, they’ll need to complete PPS’s online background check.
Offer to meet with faculty/staff at the beginning of each year (such as at a staff meeting) to briefly review what a good drill would look like before they actually do one. All faculty, staff, and volunteers should know why we drop, cover, and hold (to protect ourselves from falling objects); why we need to get out of the building as quickly as possible after an earthquake (aftershocks), and why we don't want to be standing right next to the building when an earthquake hits (buildings shed their exteriors). Again, administrators can and should contact Molly Emmons at PPS for guidance on staff training and drill procedures.
Where can I learn more?
- FEMA: Earthquake Information for Teachers and Kids
- FEMA: Youth Emergency Preparedness Curriculum - Ready Kids
Which schools have done work on this topic?
All PPS schools are required to do two earthquake drills per year, minimum. Many schools participate in the Great Shakeout every October.
Sunnyside P4P parents have been working with the school to improve drills by observing and offering suggestions for improvement. They also encourage the administration to practice the drills when the kids are not in their classrooms so the students have a variety of examples of safe practices wherever they may be on the school grounds (playground, gardening, PE, field trips, etc).
Don’t forget to do this at home!
Reinforce school drills by doing regular drills at home with your children. There is an even higher chance that something will happen when the kids are not in school. Make it fun, and do it often. Let your kids teach you what they’ve learned at school. Ask them: What do you do during an earthquake? Where is your outside meeting point after the shaking stops?
One P4P member does monthly earthquake drills with her family. She announces “Earthquake Day,” and her son gets to pick the time it happens. He yells “Earthquake!” and they all drop/cover/hold and then go outside to their family meeting space. Next they do a quick check of their disaster kit. Doing it this way makes it fun, reinforces the importance of it, normalizes it, develops situational awareness, and creates muscle memory.
Next, learn how to locate and shut off your home’s utilities (ready.gov/safety-skills). If it’s age appropriate, teach your children how to do it.
3. HAZARD HUNTS
What is it?
Hazard Hunt: Identifying non-structural items inside and outside of a building that could be hazardous during an earthquake (large bookcases, contents of open shelving, heavy rolling blocks of chairs, folding cafeteria tables, pianos, filing cabinets, lockers, rolling carts, copy machines, kitchen equipment, etc).
Non-Structural Hazard Mitigation (NSHM): Reducing the risks and impacts of these potentially hazardous items by relocating/securing them or by changing where people spend most of their time.
Why do we need it?
In the United States, most injuries during an earthquake are caused by falling objects and over 90% of physical damage is to building contents. By securing contents, most injuries will be prevented, damages will be lessened, and we can ensure a smoother evacuation of the building after the earthquake is over.
Who is responsible for this?
Schools have certain fire-safety regulations they need to abide by, such as keeping exit pathways clear. But there are currently no legal seismic safety requirements, so NSHM work is informally handled by school staff, safety committees, and parents. Schools may choose to do some NSHM improvements themselves, and a few PPS schools are doing this work.
That being said, PPS is currently rewriting district standards for furniture, including the bracing of large furniture. At newly-built schools, all of the attached fixtures (like lights) are subject to current building code, so they meet the current seismic standard for life safety. And the lockers in new schools are built-in, so they do not present a fall hazard.
What is involved?
1) Talk to your administrator. Identify a few teachers who are good candidates (flexible, okay with people coming into their space, etc.). When meeting with the teacher, provide some background information about why this work is important, and assure them that your team will do its best not to be disruptive.
2) Do a hazard hunt with the teacher (see documents below). Consider inviting your Neighborhood Emergency Team (or Community Emergency Response Team) to come help with the hazard hunt. If they haven’t already, they’ll need to complete a PPS background check.
3) Raise money to pay for the work. Look at the Fundraising folder on the P4P Basecamp site for ideas. Some PTAs are able/willing to assist with funding.
4) Find a contractor experienced in non-structural mitigation/strapping, and make sure that they have the right personality. If they aren’t sensitive to the issues of scheduling, budget, lack of time, lack of space, etc, it could cause issues and impede future work. Reach out to P4P members on Basecamp for advice about finding a contractor.
5) Contact a PPS Project Manager to do a walk-through of the rooms and then give permission to proceed.
What challenges do we face?
Most of this work requires drilling into walls or floors, which isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds. Many of these buildings are 100+ years old, so we have to think about asbestos, lead, old wires, etc. In older buildings, PPS will not allow you to drill into ceilings at all.
A licensed contractor has to do the work, and the contractor must be supervised by a PPS Project Manager. This all requires time, patience, and money.
Time: Don’t expect to get this done quickly. Start small with just a few classrooms. That may take a full year if you consider all of the bureaucratic work that needs to be done before the manual work begins. Scheduling can be a big challenge. The work needs to be done when children aren’t around, which means it has to be done during a break. Getting the contractor access to the building during a break can be challenging, which is why we’ve identified a contractor who already has a PPS badge (see above).
Patience: You will likely find that some teachers are not welcoming to this type of work. They may prefer to have the flexibility to rearrange their classrooms, which isn’t possible when furniture is secured to the walls. Please keep in mind that teachers have a lot of priorities to juggle, not the least of which is educating your children. Work with your school’s administrator to identify classrooms/teachers that would be open to NSM, and start there.
Money: The district doesn’t provide specific funding for this work, but it could potentially be funded by the regular operating budget. There is a potential for NSM advocacy work during district budget hearings, and we hope P4P members will step up to help with that.
Normally, it’s left to PTAs to raise the funds. In addition to paying for the contractor, the PTA must also have appropriate insurance.
You may ask, why can’t we give the money to the school and have them do the work? At this time, we don’t recommend this. It would involve many additional barriers (work orders, lots of waiting, securing an independent PPS project manager, etc). Ideally, PPS will create policies, procedures, and funding for this work at all schools in the future.
How can I help?
Use a hazard hunt checklist to identify issues. Having a walk-through report with photos can help you build your case for the need for this type of work and help you secure funding when the time comes.
Many earthquake-related injuries can be prevented by some basic housekeeping. The less clutter the better. Work with teachers and administration on reorganizing rooms to reduce hazards. Does that old projector need to be on the top shelf of the bookcase? At the end of each year, PTAs can organize volunteers and pay for a dumpster to help clean out classrooms.
Expect some hesitation, as any work in the classroom or additional requirements can be seen as a burden. Be sensitive to the teacher’s storage needs, limitations, and desire to reorganize their space to encourage learning. Be prepared to offer volunteer assistance for any reorganization work that may be required.
Where can I learn more?
- Hazard Hunt Checklists
- Example Walk-Through Report
- FEMA: Guide to Improving School Natural Hazard Safety
- FEMA: Reducing Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage
Which schools have done work on this topic?
Irvington Elementary, Sunnyside Environmental School, Atkinson Elementary
Don’t forget to do this at home!
Minimize hazards in your home as well. Use FEMA’s Home Hazard Hunt Poster to guide you. Obviously, the best reason to have earthquake-resistant interiors is to reduce our likelihood of getting injured. But it can also reduce the amount of time we would need to stay out of our homes after an earthquake. Imagine the difference in cleanup and recovery for a kitchen with cabinet latches and strapped appliances vs. one without.
4. SUPPLIES IN CLASSROOMS
What is it?
Water, food, First Aid supplies, masks, flashlights, radios, class rosters, emergency contact lists, etc. Visit the supplies page on our website for suggestions about what to include.
Why do we need it?
In-room supplies are important because items stored outside are subject to theft and changes in temperature, which can degrade them. These supplies are also useful for non-earthquake emergency situations where kids can't leave the classroom.
Who is responsible for this?
There are no requirements of the school, although PPS has provided buckets and initial supplies for all classrooms.
What is involved?
Each classroom at PPS should already have a bucket with emergency supplies. Teachers have been instructed to bring the buckets with them if there’s an emergency. Students should be empowered to grab the bucket as needed. They should know where it is and what is in it (as appropriate by grade).
What challenges do we face?
The biggest challenge is keeping the supplies and student rosters/emergency contacts updated. Sunnyside organizes a work party every fall to go through the buckets and make sure everything is in working order, refresh expired supplies, and add updated rosters and emergency contact info.
The buckets aren’t large, so a limited amount of supplies will fit in them. Some supplies expire, and most PTAs don't have a budget for refreshing supplies. Some classrooms are too crowded to store them. Most importantly, while they may be more useful during a lockdown, these buckets may be less useful during an earthquake. If teachers are struggling to get children out of the building, they may not be able to carry the buckets. They should be complemented with supplies stored outside of the building (see below).
How can I help?
Raise funds or solicit donations. Look at the Fundraising folder on our Basecamp site for ideas. And organize volunteers to refresh the supplies each year.
Where can I learn more?
Which schools have done work on this topic?
Atkinson Elementary, Sunnyside Environmental
Don’t forget to do this at home!
Make sure you have an earthquake kit at home. Involving the whole family in preparedness helps make the idea of disasters less scary. Work together to pack some basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency (water, non-perishable food, flashlights, radio, First Aid kit, etc). Water is hands-down the most important item in your kit, so focus on that first.
For information about what to include, check out www.publicalerts.org/get-ready/gather-supplies. We recommend storing some of your supplies indoors and some outdoors, if possible.
5. SUPPLIES OUTSIDE THE BUILDING
What is it?
Storage containers with shelter (tents/tarps), water, food, medical supplies, radios, batteries, sanitation supplies, etc. Visit the supplies page on our website for suggestions about what to include.
Why do we need it?
Kids and staff may need to remain on school grounds for hours or days following an earthquake. They will need to stay out of the buildings until we’re sure the aftershocks have passed and the buildings can be inspected for safety. Supplies should cover basic survival priorities (in order): shelter, water, food. But medical, communication, and sanitation supplies are also essential.
Who is responsible for this?
The district is not required to provide this.
What is involved?
A shipping container was recently installed at Robert Gray Middle School. This is the first of its kind in the district. P4P will document their process and share on Basecamp in the near future.
Check out the Disaster Cache folder on P4P’s Basecamp site for information about Sunnyside Elementary’s efforts to get a shipping container. We’re watching them and hoping they succeed so that we can replicate their efforts elsewhere. The Sunnyside NET has been integral to helping their project get this far.
An alternative that some have considered is storing supplies nearby, such as in the garages or sheds of nearby neighbors or at local businesses. But security and longevity may be an issue, and it would require having a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in place.
What challenges do we face?
There are many challenges, including:
Location: It has to be far enough away from the building to be safe after an earthquake. It has to be far enough away from the property line (20 ft) to adhere to zoning codes. There can’t be a space behind it where children can hide during recess. They have to be able to mow around it.
Funding: The district doesn’t have the budget to provide containers or contents. Most schools don’t either. It usually falls to the PTA to provide funding.
Equity: Not all schools/PTAs can come up with the money to fund this. If only affluent schools can afford to do it, it creates a serious equity issue. One proposed solution is to have the schools that are doing this work sponsor materials for a sister school.
Maintenance and Security: Supplies such as water, food, and batteries need to be maintained and/or replaced. Graffiti needs to be prevented and/or removed. Storage containers can be broken into. Schools need a long-term plan for dealing with these issues, as parents move on when their children age.
How can I help?
Work with P4P to advocate. Schools across Oregon are storing supplies on their grounds. We may need to take this discussion to PPS and the school board.
Where can I learn more?
What schools have done work on this topic?
Robert Gray Middle School, Sunnyside Elementary (TBD)
Don’t forget to do this at home!
Make sure you have an earthquake kit at home. Involving the whole family in preparedness helps make the idea of disasters less scary. Work together to pack some basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency (water, non-perishable food, flashlights, radio, First Aid kit, etc). Water is hands-down the most important item in your kit, so focus on that first.
For information about what to include, check out www.publicalerts.org/get-ready/gather-supplies. We recommend storing some of your supplies indoors and some outdoors, if possible.
6. REUNIFICATION DRILLS
What is it?
A reunification plan is the school's plan for how to reunite students with their families after any emergency - not just earthquakes.
Why do we need it?
In a chaotic emergency release, normal pick-up rules go out the window. We need a specific process for making sure kids are accounted for, and we need to do regular drills to practice the plan. Practicing provides an opportunity for administrators to improve the plans, as well as an opportunity for parents to see first-hand how stressful and complicated this process can be. It also forces families to think about their family’s plan and gives schools an opportunity to hone their parent outreach and improve how they communicate with families.
Who is responsible for this?
The district sets some guidelines, and each school is tasked with having a plan. But the district’s template is very general and needs to be customized by each school for its particular circumstances. And while the schools are required to have a plan, they are not required to practice it. Parent interest and participation is needed to make this happen.
What is involved, and how can I help?
As with everything else, the first step is to convince your administration that this is important. Next, work with them to pick a date a few months out, as this will take some planning.
Contact PPS Emergency Manager Kyle Olsen to let him know you’re planning a drill. He will provide the basic protocol and come to the school on the day of the drill to help oversee it. It’s important that PPS is involved so they can provide guidance and learn from each reunification drill that happens in the district.
Work with your administration / safety committee to adapt the basic district template so that it makes sense for your school. Talk to the most veteran teacher and/or staff members in the school, and ask if they have done this before. If so, what did they learn? Consider inviting a P4P member from Atkinson or Sunnyside (or one of the other schools that have done a reunification drill) to meet with you and share their experience.
Help recruit families to participate, and find ways to communicate with parents about the drill. Consider having an opt-in or opt-out signup. Make sure all families are reached, including those who don’t speak English. Assist in finding translation help, if needed.
You can also help by observing the drill and making notes for improvement. Remember to be sensitive with any critique, and do not get involved in the drill beyond participating as any other parent would. It’s important that the faculty/staff know how to do this without your help. Consider inviting your Neighborhood Emergency Team to help with observation. If they haven’t already, they’ll need to complete a PPS background check.
Plan to meet after the drill to revise the plan based on lessons learned. For much more detailed information about this process, look at the Reunification Drills folder on the P4P Basecamp site.
What challenges do we face?
Getting the word out to parents about the drill can be challenging and time consuming. Sunnyside P4P members did day and evening parent workshops ahead of time to prepare people. Atkinson P4P members talked to parents and handed out flyers at the entrance to the school every morning and afternoon for the entire week before the drill, and still some people didn’t seem to know about it.
Some parents may need information provided in different languages, so translating informational materials and signage may be necessary.
Parents may get impatient during the drill, so you should be prepared to remind them why this is so important. The goal of the drill is to work through the kinks so that it runs smoothly in the event of a real emergency.
Where can I learn more?
- I Love U Guys: Standard Reunification Method
- The Great Shakeout Drill: Manuals and Planning Resources
What schools have done work on this topic?
Atkinson, Sunnyside, Capitol Hill, Chief Joseph, Peninsula, Beverly Cleary, Hosford, and Llewellyn.
Don’t forget to do this at home!
Everyone will be much better off if the schools can quickly release children to well-prepared families with plans. Plus, being separated without a plan would be terrifying for you and your child. Make plans and backup plans for how you will communicate and reunite. For help developing plans, visit publicalerts.org/get-ready/make-plans.
If you live or work across the river from your child’s school, include a school-area person on your child’s emergency contacts list. Even better, include several. Put these people’s contact information in your family communication plan, and remind them yearly that they’re on the list.
Next, make sure you’ll be able to get information after a disaster.
- Locate the BEECN locations nearest your home and work. These are designated spots where you’ll go to get information when phone and internet aren’t working.
- Sign up to receive PublicAlerts, which are emergency notifications about hazards affecting the areas you spend a lot of time (home, school, aftercare, grandparents, etc). PublicAlerts can reach you by landline, mobile phone, text, or email.
- Register to get text alerts from PPS about school closures, delays, emergencies, and more. Text YES to 68453.
For more information about preparing for earthquakes and other disasters, visit PublicAlerts.org.
7. QUESTIONS?
If you have questions, please join our group on Basecamp.com and post your question on the Message Board. We’re happy to share what we’ve learned with you - we’re here to share our collective knowledge! To join Basecamp, visit the P4P Website and complete the online form.
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