School Days:
Gilroy Unified School District
Emergency Preparedness: Stronger Together
By Melanie Corona, Public Information Officer, Gilroy Unified School District
I
Earthquake preparedness:
Students participate in the Great Shake-Out Earthquake Drill
every October. School staff works with students to “Drop,
Cover, Hold On,” and exit buildings safely.
Emergency Action Planning:
The City of Gilroy and GUSD both run an Emergency
Operations Center, depending on the gravity of an emergency,
and regular drill procedures for the EOC. All public employees
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
are disaster service workers, trained on how to handle
emergencies where care for children must be provided for
up to 72 hours.
Fire Safety:
GUSD schools are equipped with sprinkler systems and fire
extinguishers and are inspected by fire professionals annually.
Students participate in regular fire drills.
Hands-Only CPR and AED training:
Training is provided to high school students by the Gilroy
Fire Department annually.
Violence Prevention and Crisis Response:
GUSD uses StopIT, an anonymous reporting app, at school
sites. Students are trained to “see something, say some-
thing, do something.” This mechanism is in place for them
to receive the help they need. Students at every grade level
participate in “Run, Hide, Defend,” a life skill that can be
used in a number of scenarios regardless of location. GUSD
and City of Gilroy jointly provide two School Resource
Officers for the school district.
The Gilroy community, our students, and our staff
have shown incredible resilience. The safety of the GUSD
community remains at the forefront for our District leaders
and partners in all that we do.
FALL/HOLIDAY 2019
gmhtoday.com
n the aftermath of the Gilroy Garlic Festival emergency,
our school district provided key support mechanisms
and resources to students, staff members and
community. We hosted crisis counselors at Christopher
and Gilroy High Schools and Brownell Middle School
for two weeks and provided counseling services to staff and
students the first week of the school year. Rucker Elementary
hosted the Family Assistance Center in partnership with the
Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and the Red
Cross. Antonio Del Buono Elementary provided a meeting
point for transportation to the reunification site.
With the new school year underway, GUSD is committed to
providing all students with life-skills education that includes:
earthquake preparedness, emergency action planning, fire
safety, hands-only CPR, AED training, violence prevention,
and crisis response.
Our district’s relationships with Gilroy Police Department,
Gilroy Fire Department and the City of Gilroy are integral to
our emergency preparedness planning. We collaborate with
planning efforts and complete tabletop exercises and manda-
tory drills to ensure best practices are used in emergencies.
During an emergency, communication is critical to safety.
The community can actively engage to support the com-
munications process of these organizations. Gilroy residents
should follow the City of Gilroy on its social media plat-
forms (Facebook, Twitter and NextDoor); sign up for Santa
Clara County Alert SCC (AlertSCC.com) and Gilroy Police
Department Nixle updates (by texting 95020 to 888777);
and register for the City of Gilroy’s Email Express Newsletter.
GUSD student families can follow the district’s social
media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), and
register their email addresses and phone numbers in Aeries
Communications in order to receive emergency updates.
Emergency communications are also posted on the GUSD
websites (gilroyunified.org).
GUSD recommends that families also establish emergency
communication plans of their own. Learn more at gilroy-
unified.org/parentstudent-resources/emergency-preparedness.
During the school year, our students practice for a number of
different emergency scenarios: