Enhanced communications, 'safe havens,' and 'crisis kits' will buffer kids from terror

Thursday, March 20, 2003 • BY BEV McCARRON AND JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff

Talk of triage units is almost as common as lesson plans. "Secure rooms" for food and supplies are being mapped out. Not only are there back-up communications systems to alert staff and parents, but in some districts, there are back-ups for the back-ups.

As U.S.-led troops mass in the Middle East, school districts across New Jersey are going into their own wartime mode, stockpiling food and water, laying out evacuation routes, and planning for the worst in case of a terrorist attack or other retaliatory action.

Measures range from the routine, such as updating class lists and emergency home phone numbers, to the extraordinary, with plans being drawn up for the evacuation of thousands of students.

Holy Family School in Florham Park has identified "safe havens" to go to outside of school. Emergency backpacks are loaded with batteries, candles, radios, bullhorns and first-aid kits.

"We have to prepare for so many different events, whether airborne, chemical, fire or bacteria," said Jim Duris, principal of the school.

Montgomery schools sent out a letter yesterday asking families to send in a "crisis kit" for children to store in their cubbies or lockers in case of a lockdown. It should include non-carbonated drink, non-perishable food, a blanket and "some 'comfort/stress' foods like favorite candies or healthy snacks."

With more than 32,000 children in its care, Jersey City's school system is among many that have canceled field trips for the near future. In a level of planning that has administrators thinking like military strategists, the district even has a courier system if two-way radios, phones and e-mail fail.

"The 48 hours is up this evening at 8:05," said Frank Dooley, deputy superintendent, in detailing his district's battle plan to principals and administrators yesterday. "Anything goes after that."

There is no single blueprint to follow. In the last two weeks, both the federal and state departments of education released guidelines, more suggestions than dictates. They called for fallback communication systems and coordination with law enforcement and local emergency management officials, who are to jointly decide with a district superintendent whether to lock down or evacuate a school.

"The midst of a crisis is not the time to start figuring out who ought to do what," said U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige last week. "At that moment, everyone involved -- from top to bottom -- should know the drill and know each other."

Many schools first drew up emergency plans following the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. Those were refined and updated after 9/11. The last month brought still more changes.

Many districts hurriedly met with police and emergency management again on Tuesday, when President Bush gave the Iraqis a 48-hour warning of war. On that day, Passaic County's top school and law enforcement officials huddled in Paterson to update phone numbers and locations for emergency command centers.

The state has sought to send the message to schools that they must continue "business as usual and keep a certain level of normalcy," said Maria Nuccetelli, the Passaic County superintendent.

"But of course, that must be coupled with being alert and knowing what you'll be doing in case of emergency, who you will be communicating with, things like that," she said. "I think we have come a long way, certainly in this county, in all being on the same page and talking with each other."

Many of the messages coming home from schools seek to reassure rather than alarm. In his letter, Summit Superintendent Michael Knowlton said school administrators were working with emergency management coordinators to devise "reasonable, common sense plans."

At Watchung Hills Regional High School, officials are on alert for anyone who doesn't belong. Police are increasing patrols on the 100-acre campus, and security officers are being given Palm Pilots that connect them to a data base so they can check car license plates, said Superintendent Gary Reece.

To say the least, the district's preparations to safeguard students in the building, if needed, have led to a few questions from parents.

"Parents have asked straight up, 'Are you ready to make dinner for 2,000?'" he said. "We don't have hotel facilities but they will be taken care of."

Jersey City's schools are perhaps New Jersey's most experienced in handling this scope of crisis. The events of Sept. 11 unfolded within view of many students, and several schools ended up doubling as evacuation centers for fleeing New Yorkers.

But the lessons were good and bad, with administrators conceding they were unprepared for the rush of parents and the panic that struck. Much of that is addressed in the new plans, they said, including a "reunion gate operation" that will have a procedure for returning children to their parents and guardians.

One new rule in Jersey City schools since Sept. 11 is that all classroom televisions be turned off in case of an emergency -- except in the principal's office.

The decision to cancel field trips was a difficult one, but again a lesson from Sept. 11 when an elementary school class was stuck in Manhattan until 11:30 at night. "We're a little gun shy on field trips at a time like this," said Dooley, the deputy superintendent.

Among parents, reaction varied. In Montgomery, Suzanne Esterman was among those complaining about the request for "crisis kits."

"It's both frightening and ridiculous," said the mother of two. "It seems as useless as duct tape, but also enough to frighten children."

In the Somerset Hills district, Nancy Colon received a letter informing parents that the district stands ready with several days' worth of food and a beefed-up communications system.

"It brings it home; it's real," she said. "But at the same time, it's good to know that we're not being oblivious to the whole thing. It's a comfort to know there is some plan."