USA - A $250,000 emergency response and crisis management
grant, provides a psuedo- boot camp and intelligence training for staff in the
Bakersfield City School District.
"We've been doing safety planning and safety drills for
years and this was the first time that schools have gotten involved, about 130
nationwide and extending their safety planning," said Randall Ranes from the
B.C.S.D.
Ranes said the district wants to be prepared for any
emergency. That could include domestic terrorism, hostage situations, and
natural disasters. What makes this different from past crisis prevention is the
organization and money, and the district plans to make improvements.
"Can you increase your ability to respond to maximize
rather than just provide an average or minimal response?" said Ranes. "Yeah.
Have we done well? Yes."
Education staff on new concerns in a post 9/11 world is
of utmost importance. So far, Ranes said the district has spend roughly $
100,000, yet there are no visible signs of changes in safety, and the district
has just nine months left to use the rest of the grand money.
That first $100,000 didn't provide any training or
equipment, but Ranes said there were hundreds of surveys sent out, and that
takes a long time.
After all is said and done, you may not see high tech
security cameras or an electrical fence, but district officials say what you
will notice is the preparedness and response to disasters.
School bus drivers have not yet been trained for specific
threats under the grant, but soon they well learn new tactics to prepare and
recover from a disaster.
District officials say it's going to take more than
$250,000 to be as prepared as they'd like to be, and they're looking for future
opportunities to bring in more money for disaster readiness.
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