The Arkadelphia Public School District, in conjunction with the Arkadelphia Police Department, will hold an informational session for parents and community members regarding the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) school safety program on Tuesday, April 9, at 6:00 pm at the Central Primary School Auditorium.

APSD is implementing the program, produced by the I Love You Guys Foundation, along with APD and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office throughout the district from pre-K to high school. District representatives invite parents to this information session that will explain the program and what to expect during various emergencies that might occur during the course of a school year.

“Over the course of this school year, this program has been explained to our students at all levels in a variety of ways,” said Dr. Jeanette Turner, APSD Director of Instruction and Curriculum who has been working with APSD SRO Dewayne Ward on the implementation of the program. “These have varied at different campuses with age-appropriate presentations training our students what to do in different circumstances.

“The good thing about the program is that although the presentation might be different for a kindergarten student than it is for a high school student, the action steps and terminology are consistent throughout the district within this program, allowing continuity for each year a student is in the district.”

The Standard Response Protocol teaches students, staff and parents what to expect during four different situations: lockouts, lockdowns, evacuations and times to find shelter.

“Our minds sometimes automatically go the worst-case scenarios when we hear of a safety issue at a school, but not all emergencies carry the same level of danger,” added Turner. “This is not just a program to use when there is a situation such as an active shooter, although that is a portion of what we want to be prepared for, but this is also for situations such as weather-related emergencies or any other variety of situations.”

The informational session on April 9 will explain the SRP program and help parents know that their students have been instructed to do, but also what is expected of and needed from parents during emergency situations.

“Hopefully through this session and continuing to find different ways to inform parents of our procedures during emergency situations, we will all be on the same page and can minimize issues in the unfortunate event that an emergency sitiation arises at one of our campuses,” said Turner.

The program will last about an hour and parents will be able to take home a flier with information regarding the SRP home with them to help as a learning tool as well. For more information on the program, visit www.iloveuguys.org .