INNISFAIL - Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) is working with three other school divisions in the region to facilitate close communication among the groups during future emergencies, says superintendent Kathleen Finnigan.
In her monthly report to trustees, Finnigan outlined work now underway with Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD), Red Deer Public Schools and Wolf Creek Public Schools.
Officials hope the consultations will lead to an agreement supporting school and school community safety, she said.
“We met with communications officers from the divisions to discuss the development of a potential communications memorandum of understanding for use in times of emergencies,” she said.
“The proposed MOU would be similar in structure to mutual aid agreement between communities, and allow our school divisions to put in additional resources from each other in time of need.”
The parties met in early November and plan to meet again to further develop the idea, she said.
RDCRS includes schools in Innisfail and Olds, while the CESD includes schools across the district.
In her superintendent’s report, Finnigan also explained that the division’s Occupation Health & Safety (OHS) team has been busy on several recent projects and initiatives in the 10,700-student division.
The work has included a focus on emergency preparedness at division schools, including through the ‘Know Your Building Orientations’ program.
Under the program, “each school’s principal focused on emergency preparedness, document storage, and ensuring we have the correct and current documentation requires, location of emergency equipment and facility utilities.”
The program also includes a review of fire, lock-down, security and alarm procedures, she said.
The OHS team is also conducting noise assessments at schools “where concerns have been raised and implementing controls as need included issuing custom-fitted hearing protection for staff members exposed to excessive noise above 100 decibels for longer periods.”
Finnigan’s report was accepted as information.
