For Immediate Release

Friday, Aug. 26, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 781-791-7627
Email: john@jgpr.net

*Joint Press Release* Burlington Police to Implement Standard Response Protocol in Public Schools

BURLINGTON — Police Chief Michael Kent and Superintendent Dr. Eric Conti announce that Burlington Public Schools will implement a Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to establish a uniform system for addressing critical incidents and emergencies.

An SRP allows for schools to be prepared for any incident — weather events, fires, accidents, intruders and other threats to student safety. The district will be transitioning to the new protocol in the fall.

Chief Kent, Lt. Glen Mills, Lt. Thomas Browne and Sgt. Timothy McDonough, along with Associate High School Principals Richard Sheehan and Deborah Deacon attended “The Briefings: A National School Safety Symposium” at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., hosted by the i love u guys Foundation — an organization that works to enhance student safety by partnering school administrators with law enforcement officials to address real-world situations — and Jeffco Public Schools.

Attendees examined lessons learned from traumatic events and discussed preemptive safety measures to implement in schools. As part of the conference, police and school officials learned about SRPs and the format to bring the system to Burlington.

“An SRP allows for a more predictable and safe series of actions if an emergency or unsafe situation were to occur at any of our schools,” Chief Kent said. “Our goal is to ensure that students, faculty and staff remain safe at all times.”

The protocol, outlined by i love u guys, is based on four specific reactive actions that can be taken during an incident:

• Lockout is used to safeguard students and staff within the building.
• Lockdown is used to secure individual rooms and keep students quiet and in place.
• Evacuate is used to move students and staff from one location to another, or out of the building.
• Shelter is activated for self protection.

“This system of defense allows schools, police and first responders to be on the same page and establish concrete steps throughout an incident that allows for rapid response during an unforeseen and potentially dangerous event,” Superintendent Conti said. “We will continue to work with the Burlington Police Department to train using the SRP.”

Informational documents will be sent home with students and also posted in classrooms to serve as a reference for the SRP. To view the documents, click here.

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