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Tuesday, September 04, 2012

A Letter To The Editor 9-4-12

Dear Editor,



I am responding to the discussions that have been posted about the current emergency evacuation plan for the eighth grade special needs students at Salisbury Middle School. I am the parent of one of the students. I would like to share my discussions and experience with the school’s administration and the BOE related to this matter.



There are currently three eighth grade students at Salisbury Middle School that use a wheelchair and/or walkers for navigation around school. The children’s current eighth grade core classes are located on the second floor of the building. The current emergency evacuation plan states that, in the case of a fire or other situation where students would need to exit the building, the three students will be taken to a rear stairwell which will serve as an area of refuge until fire department rescue.



Discussion about a plan for the safe and compassionate evacuation of our children is not a recent issue. This matter has been discussed on numerous occasions for over two years with administration personnel at the school and BOE personnel at supervisory levels. The last discussion about this matter was on May 24, 2012, where I was told “we are going to have the Salisbury Fire Department come over and do some training for our staff to look at issues with (pause) if we should have a fire in the building. The building is ADA certified so basically what we have been told by them is that what we would do if we had any student upstairs would be that they would go to the far window and that’s where the firefighters would get them out of the school…but what we are going to do is we’re going to have the Salisbury Fire Department, that’s right over here, come over and do some training for our staff in the fall”. This quote is taken from the transcription of the taped conversation, in my possession, of the May 24, 2012 meeting. This meeting was also taped by the school’s administration so the BOE has a record of the meeting conversation as well.



At the same meeting, I was also told that the fire company would come in August to check out the plan but that administration planned to have preliminary contact with the fire company before August. I was also invited to attend the August meeting with the fire department and was told that I would be contacted during the summer about the date and time. I was not contacted about a meeting and sent an inquiry email on August 21. I later learned that a meeting had been scheduled with the fire department, perhaps spurred by my August 21 email, for Monday, August 27, one day before school started for the eighth grade students. During a conversation on
Tuesday, August 28, I was told by the BOE Safe Schools Coordinator that the window
evacuation plan, discussed at the May 24, 2012, meeting had not approved by the fire
department. This leads me to believe that a discussion about an evacuation plan had never taken place with the fire department prior to the May 24 meeting. On May 24, I was told about the approved “window” evacuation plan but this plan was not approved by them at the meeting on August 27. The current “area of refuge” plan was apparently devised on Monday, August 27. No staff training has occurred or has been planned as of Friday, August 31. Two-way radios have not been distributed. Four days of school have elapsed.



Not only is a fail-safe evacuation plan needed immediately for the current disabled eighth grade students but for the disabled students that will follow in the coming years. There are currently disabled students in attendance at Salisbury Middle School in the sixth and seventh grades. These children will need a safe exit from the building in an emergency when they reach eighth grade. A permanent fail-safe alternative plan to the “area of refuge” plan was introduced at the parent meeting which took place on Thursday, August 30.



There are approximately 300 students in the school’s seventh grade class and 300 students in the school’s eighth grade class. Each class is assigned to a class team comprised of 150 students. Each class team of 150 students attends classes and outside events separate from the other class team. Each class team uses half of the classrooms on each floor. There are seven classrooms used by each team for their core classes. It was suggested that the seven classrooms on the second floor, currently being used by the eighth grade team which include the three
wheelchair/walker bound students, be switched with the identical seven classrooms located on the first floor of the building, currently used by a seventh grade team. The school has four emergency exits on the current first floor seventh grade wing. There are two emergency exits on the current second floor eighth grade wing.



Although administration and BOE have not taken the time to discuss this option with us, logistics of a classroom move at this time may be cited as problematic. We suggest that 1-2 classrooms are moved over the coming weekends. If moving costs are a deterrent to administration/BOE approval, volunteers will be on hand to assist with the move. How many volunteers are needed? If volunteer injury issues are a problem, injury waivers will be signed. In brief, class schedules can be changed by students from “E235” to “E135”, etc. or “E135” to “E235’, etc. Lockers can be switched to the identical location on the other floor.



All of this is an inconvenience to the students. It is a matter of safety for the current eighth grade disabled students and those disabled students that will follow in the coming years. The second floor evacuation plan for the wheelchair/walker bound students should have been addressed before the start of school. The “area of refuge” plan is a quickly devised plan, it is not fail-safe, and it is cold hearted.



Thank you to those who have shown their support for the re-location of my son and his disabled friends to the first floor of the building. Please stand with us as we continue our efforts to urge the administration and the BOE to make the right decision to institute a fail-safe evacuation plan for our special children.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

historically speaking, if you a parent makes real waves, the school will drown you. just speaking from experience. good luck and we support you and your child 100%

Anonymous said...

Would it be possible to build an outside ramp from the second floor? I don't recall, since it has been several years ago that I had a child there, if there is an exit door up there or not. Perhaps volunteers would donate materials and labor?

Anonymous said...

My heart breaks for this parents and the others. Their hands are tied by the ignorance of our BOE.

Anonymous said...

Or just offer to move the 3 kids to the one story Mardela Middle/High school which will solve the problem for everyone until the kids graduate.

Anonymous said...

My goodness , give it a rest.
They will be saved!

Don't vote for Obama!

Anonymous said...

Since the BOE doesn't feel like the children will be in any danger why is a teacher or some adult staying there with them?

Anonymous said...

Good luck in your quest for a safe and viable option for your precious youngster. School administrators need to be held accountable for their lack of action and poor choice in this particular situation.

Anonymous said...

Since when does the fire department dictate such decisions.

Anonymous said...

My understanding of Fire Department, is buildings have to be up to fire code, buildings need to be inspected for occupancy and fire safety, and meet current code. This is done prior to any fire and when a fire does occur the Fire Marshall comes in to inspect. The plan should have the fire safety blessing.

Anonymous said...

I think we will have 12 more firemen in the city , so , response time will be much quicker. Not to worry lady.

Anonymous said...

The building is safe and the Office of the State Fire Marshal's suggestion for an area of refuge is more that adequate. It goes above and beyond the National Fire Code. The building is fully sprinklered and code compliant. If there was ever a fire in this building one sprinkler head could and would put it out. The building is made out of block and steel and and it isn't combustable. These 2 parents are crying wolf and taking advantage of their poor child's disability. This issue has been going on for 3 years and the 2 mothers love whining. There really isn't an isssue. Now is there and issue between the parents and the current principal, maybe, but it goes beyond fire safety. All children, staff and visitors of that school are safe otherwise the State Fire Marshal would not have issued a certificate of occupancy.

Anonymous said...

There are two issues. Safety is one, but the follow through of board of ed. staff is the other. Parents are always told whatever the board thinks will make them shut up and go away. The conflict comes if you try to make staff live up to what they said would they do.

Anonymous said...

Joe, on one of the earlier posts someone made a comment that these magnet parents are at it again. Neither of these kids or their parents were ever part of the magnet program. Nice try though.

Anonymous said...

My son was on crutches last year at Bennett High and had to use the elevator for 3 months to get to the second floor. He was told to stay in the stairwell as well during drills. If your son's grade was moved to the first floor, what would stop another parent of a student being relocated to the second floor for complaining just like this if they had to use crutches or a wheelchair for a certain amount of time?. Some things are better left how they are. If you are really unhappy with this there are several private schools available.

Mark said...

SMOKE KILLS and they want to put these children in an area that would act as a chimney to allow the smoke to rise to the second floor with these kids basically waiting for the smoke. WTF, all they talk about is fire, its the smoke that is the issue. Maybe before the 2 way radios come they should train these kids on how to use an oxygen mask and allow them to carry them around by any means possible.

Anonymous said...

The proposal to move the classrooms from the second to the first floor is utterly ridiculous, absurd and shows absolutely how obtuse the thinking is. First of all who is going to do all this work, to move teachers and their classrooms, talk about a law suit- what about the employees of the county that will be moving these classrooms- can you say workman’s compensation , risk prevention… We are not talking about “everyone grab your books and let Johnny have your room”. What happens if the very next day a disabled child is enrolled and has to placed on the second floor: Lets play Chinese fire drill. At some point this absurdity has to stop.

Anonymous said...

They had a fire drill today, with the fire department present. All went well, everyone safe in a timely manner. What's the issue here? Sorry for your child's disability, but please don't make the other 890 + students be held accountable. Like another poster said, " take him to Mardela middle/high" or if it's thats a problem then homeschool. Do you realize your child is going to have to adapt to similar situations later in life. If he gets hired by a company on the third floor of a building, are you going to demand they switch places with another company on the first floor?

Anonymous said...

Modern critics of the poem emphasize its many historical inaccuracies. For example, the poem depicts the lantern signal in the Old North Church as meant for Revere and not from him, as was actually the case. The historical Paul Revere did not receive the lantern signal, but actually was the one who ordered it to be set up. The poem also depicts Revere rowing himself across the Charles River when, in reality, he was rowed over by others. He also never reached Concord.[15] Another inaccuracy is a general lengthening of the time frame of the night's events.

The majority of criticism, however, notes that Longfellow gave sole credit to Revere for the collective achievements of three riders (as well as the other riders whose names do not survive to history). In fact, Revere and William Dawes rode from Boston to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that British soldiers were marching from Boston to Lexington to arrest Hancock and Adams and seize the weapons stores in Concord. Revere and Dawes then rode toward Concord, where the militia's arsenal was hidden. They were joined by Samuel Prescott, a doctor who happened to be in Lexington. Revere, Dawes, and Prescott were stopped by British troops in Lincoln on the road to nearby Concord. Prescott and Dawes escaped, but Revere was detained and questioned and then escorted at gunpoint by three British officers back to Lexington.[16] Of the three riders, only Prescott arrived at Concord in time to warn the militia there

Norris said...

Send the 3 students to Bennett Middle. We can't waste time and useless energy for 3 students. The majority needs our time and must be society's focus.We feel sorry for those few who fall thru the cracks but we can't please everybody or afford to do so.