[BHS Etree] ADMIN: Friday, 3/2/18 Update from BHS

[BHS Etree]

Good morning BHS families,

I'm writing this morning to say that we have safely begun school, and to provide a few more details about the threat we reported to you yesterday. What we can say right now is that the threat was made online, and was reported to Berkeley PD by a partnering law enforcement agency. That agency made BPD aware, who then notified us. Many of you have asked about how we determine whether or not a threat is credible enough to take some sort of immediate action such as dismissing school. The short answer is that in these situations we remain in constant communication with law enforcement and depend on their expertise to help us keep this community safe. The threat in question specified yesterday as the time frame, and we still do not have information that would indicate the threat will actually materialize, but we will have extra BPD presence throughout the day today around campus and remain in constant contact with law enforcement and District partners.

I also want to let you know that we have planned for and will be holding a lockdown drill on Tuesday, March 6th, at approximately 9:45 am. My goal in communicating to you about this drill, especially in light of the last few days and weeks, is that our community knows what will be expected both during that drill and in others to come.

Our district follows the industry-standard ALICE protocol for an armed intruder situation, and I hope a bit of information about this protocol is helpful to you here. ALICE is an acronym that stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. It is important to note that these elements are not meant to be taken in a linear manner, and that one of the most powerful principles of this protocol is that with the proper information about the threat, students and staff are empowered to make choices to protect themselves and potentially save their lives. For example, if an intruder is known to be in one part of the campus, only students in immediate danger would proceed with the Lockdown part of the protocol, while those farther away would be directed and encouraged to Evacuate off campus. You can find out more about the ALICE research base and methodology here: https://www.alicetraining.com/.<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http:%2F%2Ftrack.spe.schoolmessenger.com%2Ff%2Fa%2F6LVnsCkZyUVkgyPBn1exxw~~%2FAAAAAQA~%2FRgRcZx_DP0QeaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWxpY2V0cmFpbmluZy5jb20vVwdzY2hvb2xtWAQAAAABQgoAA0PshVpfcuIKUhRzX2JhdWdobkBob3RtYWlsLmNvbQ~~&data=02%7C01%7C%7C1109228031b64bd761e108d574b1fbc5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636543230131255992&sdata=42Flv9J2ZhqKdn%2BJkELFZ36yQLCKfwYsgxznAwUVQ%2Fc%3D&reserved=0>

A fully-fledged practice of the entire protocol at BHS has not been done before and requires logistics and resources that we are still putting in place, so we will begin Tuesday with two parts of the protocol that everyone will need to know: Alert and Lockdown. I will announce the beginning of the drill over the PA system, and students and teachers will follow a process to lock and barricade doors, shelter in the safest parts of the rooms they are in, and await further instructions. We have sent staff a video which I am also attaching here that shows clearly how this can be done, and does a good job giving an overview of the entire ALICE protocol. I'll note that even though the video includes no actual footage but rather actors portraying an active shooter situation, it is still difficult to watch and contemplate. We will, as I promised students and staff, collect data on this drill to learn from it for future drills, and to prepare for at least one additional, more involved drill this school year.

I will close by thanking many of you who have written with ideas and offers of support. In particular, many parents have wondered how to stand in solidarity with students during a potential March 14th action in honor of the lives lost in Florida. We are meeting with student leaders today to plan, so I hope to have news about this for you soon. Finally, I will share that as I have watched and listened to the new generation of student activists being created before our eyes in these past weeks, I have had an incredibly strong sense of recognition: our BHS students are equally passionate, engaged, and ready to be the driving force of creating the world that they deserve to live in. As sobering and frightening as this subject is to attend to, I am honored and proud to do it in order to serve the incredible young people we work with.

Thank you,
Erin

Attachment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_n1CatFgs&t=1s

_____________________________
Marguerite Fa-Kaji, Jenny Fosket and Dylan Kaufman are the parent-volunteer facilitators of the Etree; please direct any questions about the Etree to them at bhs-owner at lmi.net<mailto:bhs-owner at lmi.net>.

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