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Policy CEBA - Emergency Radios in Schools

Policy CEBA - Emergency Radios in Schools (PDF)

Issue Date: December 15, 2021

 Purpose of Emergency Radio Policy

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for emergency radio placement in District schools to facilitate urgent responses from law enforcement and emergency services in situations deemed as being a severe threat to student and staff safety.

Emergency Radios Use and Placement.

In case of emergencies due to illness or injury to a student, faculty member or visitor to the school, alarms, or non-armed confrontations, school personnel should use either a landline or cell phone to contact 911.

School personnel shall be trained in the use of the emergency radio and information needed by field units and dispatchers to facilitate a quick and safe response. 

Radios will be programmed to a single channel as determined by the jurisdiction in which the school is located.

Radios will be kept in a designated location where they can be used for volatile emergencies but where theft of the radio or false reporting of an incident would be reduced.

Radios will be assigned to a specific school and will have the school’s name programmed into the radio identification that is displayed on the system.

Events to be Reported on the Emergency Radio.

Emergency radios should be used in the following situations:

  1. An active shooting situation in or on school property;
  2. An actual sighting of a person with a gun on school property;
  3. A verified fire in the school; or
  4. A verified hazardous materials release in the school.

Procedure for Radio Use During an Emergency.

Upon determining an emergency situation exists, school personnel will activate the radio, key up the radio, and announce the following:

  1. “Emergency, emergency, emergency (give the school name and address.)”
  2. What is happening (active shooter, man with a gun, verified fire, hazmat.)
  3. The location in the school of the situation.
  4. Any description of suspect(s).
  5. Weapon information.

If safe to do so, the school personnel shall stay with the radio to answer any questions from dispatch.  If safety is in jeopardy, school personnel shall turn off the radio to avoid drawing attention to it or the employee’s location.

If possible and safe to do so, at the time of the radio alert, school personnel should also call 911 to report the same information or to leave a line open into the school for emergency dispatchers to monitor.

Miscellaneous.

Radios are encouraged to be a color other than black to make it easier to spot and identify as an emergency radio.

Radios should be tested by trained school personnel monthly.  Before the test, the 911 dispatch center should be notified by phone prior to any use on the working channel.