In our continuing efforts to keep our children safe, on the afternoon of Friday, October 4, 2024, the Macomb Community Unit School District will conduct an off-site evacuation and a Reunification drill for the Macomb Middle School students. To assist us with this drill 24 other districts across West Central Illinois and other trained school district personnel will come to the reunification site to assist. It will be a detailed process to reunite Macomb Middle School Parents/Guardians with their child(ren). This drill will not change the dismissal process at any of the other buildings. This drill will involve the middle school only.
We currently practice onsite evacuations in the form of fire drills; however, we have never practiced evacuating off-site and reuniting all students from our evacuation site. In the event that we have to evacuate the buildings and cannot return, we need to be prepared to deal with the complexity of reuniting you with your child(ren). In a real event (fire, tornado, gas leak, etc.), it will be stressful and chaotic for all parties. We all need to understand how this will work, as well. Typically, this type of drill is designed to surprise and test our preparedness. For us, because we have not had the opportunity to practice a drill of this magnitude it is more about practice and safety planning.
The following information is specifically for the Macomb Middle School off-site evacuation and Reunification Drill:
On Friday, October 4th, immediately following a short lockdown drill at the Macomb Middle School, we will evacuate all Macomb Middle School students and staff to WIU Western Hall. The District will transport the middle school students via school bus to Western Hall just before 12:00 p.m. Once the evacuation drill is complete and students are ready for pick-up, a notification will be issued to Macomb Middle School families using our mass communication system indicating the reunification process can begin.
We ask that you participate by having you, your spouse, or emergency contact (that is listed in Skyward) be available to pick up your child(ren) at the reunification site. Parents will park in WIU Q Lot (east of Western Hall/North of WIU football field) and will start the reunification process at the WIU Rec Center. For the safety of all students, you will need to bring identification (an ID) to the reunification site (WIU). This will ensure an appropriate chain of custody. We will only release children to you or your emergency contacts, similar to a real event.
In the coming days we will be sending home permission slips with all middle school students to confirm you and your child’s participation. For those that simply cannot participate because of other obligations, we will still run bus routes, but it will be from the high school. WE WANT AS MANY MACOMB MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTS/GUARDIANS AS POSSIBLE TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD(REN) THAT DAY AT WIU, TO MAKE IT AS REAL AS POSSIBLE.