Dear WUSD Community:

We wanted to give an update regarding the Big Drill. 

First, thank you to the many who have already signed up to volunteer for our Big Drill on Saturday, November 15. This is such an important event for our District and Town and we appreciate the support and interest. 

Due to the enthusiastic response, we are going to leave the volunteer sign ups open for one more week, and then close it on September 14th. If you want to participate, please sign up by then!

After we’ve closed sign-ups, we will begin to organize volunteers into roles and responsibilities. We will be in touch to confirm volunteers and then by early October should have assignments and information to share. We will be communicating via ParentSquare, so please make sure your account is set up to receive  information from us.

Finally, we wanted to clarify a few concerns that have been brought to our attention. 

• This drill takes place on a Saturday, so regular school will not be in session. All participants will be volunteers. 

• We are basing our planning on a similar drill that took place in Cloverdale at Washington Middle School in 2017. While our Big Drill will not be as large or involved as that one was, nor as realistic, we are using that model to guide our planning, alongside our law enforcement and first responder partners. In addition, we will be doing a full Request-Reunion as part of the drill, something which wasn’t done in Cloverdale. (Want to learn more about our Request-Reunion process? Go to https://iloveuguys.org/The-Standard-Reunification-Method.html) 

• Though the majority of our student volunteers will be in grades 9-12 (with a possibility of observers in the 6-8 grades, should their parents request it), we are holding the drill at Cali Calmecac. There are several reasons for this, the two main ones being the unique challenges of the CCLA site (location, ingress and egress, grade range, etc.) and the fact that there were other events already booked at the high school on the weekend we wanted to hold the drill.

• We want parent volunteers from all grade levels, because we think their input is just as valuable as other grade levels. Just because their own children will not be participating in the drill, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to participate and experience it. 

• We know very well that this could be a potentially triggering event for students, parents and staff alike. Which is why we are very clear this is a volunteer-only event. No one will be mandated to participate, and if you are concerned or uncertain about your own reaction, we strongly suggest you not participate. If you are the parent of a student who wants to participate, talk with them and determine if that is what is best for them. You know your students best, and can best determine if involvement in the drill would be too difficult for them. 

• While this is a drill primarily meant to help staff, police, EMS and town staff to practice emergency protocols, we want student participants to also get something out of the experience to be able to take back to and share with their peers. In the event of a true emergency, having students who can act as leaders will be so very valuable. 

If you are interested in signing up to volunteer and haven’t already done so, please do so at the links below. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the co-chairs of our safety committee, Heather Bailey (hbailey@wusd.org) and Pete Sullivan (psullivan@wusd.org). 

Parent Volunteers: https://forms.gle/fi4KWkoxuvsctXFr8

Student Volunteers: https://forms.gle/hJ3uoNkYszqAMfWD6

Staff Volunteers: https://forms.gle/bUDzW2Dfb3Da7VsK8

Your WUSD team