Schools Practice Emergency Drill Thursday

The Los Angeles Unified School District public schools will have an area-wide safety drill on Thursday to practice lockdown procedures.

An excerpt of the letter that some principals are sending out this week include:

The safety and welfare of our students and staff are our highest priorities. To provide schools an opportunity to practice emergency response procedures, the Superintendent of Schools has asked all students and staff to participate in a District-wide emergency preparedness drill on Thursday,March 21, 2013, at 11:00 am.

Parents have seemed unusually nervous and concerned about school safety since the shootings in Connecticut in December.

The district letter adds:

The goals of the training drill are to improve our ability to protect students, save lives, and reduce injuries. As part of the drill, the students and staff will participate in the activation of our school's Safe School Plan.

For information about how your school prepares for emergencies, you may check the website http://ParentEmergencyInformation.lausd.net.

Information is available in five languages.

One of the most important things the preparedness drill asks for from parents is for all contact information for each child. They also recommend that parents discuss a family's home preparedness plan. 

The American Red Cross has outstanding materials in English or in Spanish from their website:

http://www.redcross.org or by calling the Los Angeles Chapter at (310) 445-9900.