W. H. Ballard: Shelter in Place/Hold & Secure Drills

Parents and Guardians,

Please note that we will be engaging in 2 Secure Schools Practice Drills this week, a “Shelter in Place” practice drill and a “Hold & Secure” practice drill.

“Shelter in Place”: Tuesday, November 15th at 1:45 p.m.

This secure school response is used when the school needs to be secured due to a potential environmental or weather-related hazard outside the school. It requires that all students and staff remain in the building to stay safe (e.g., chemical spill near a school site, electrical outages, explosions or extreme weather conditions).
During a “Shelter in Place” response, the Principal or designate will ring the school bell to signal for staff
and students that are outside to come in immediately. There will be an announcement as follows:

“Our school is initiating a Shelter in Place response. Everyone should be inside the school and remain
in the building with the doors and windows closed. Normal operations may continue within the
building. Thank you.”

Once the “Shelter in Place” response has ended, there will be an announcement from the office to confirm that will be “Our school has completed a Shelter in Place response. Thank you for your co-operation.” The most important thing to remember is that while in a “Shelter in Place” response our school and classes continue to function as they normally would. As always, students are expected to follow the directions of their teacher.

“Hold & Secure” Drill: Friday, November 18th at 10:00 a.m.

This secure school response is used when the school needs to be secured due to an ongoing situation outside and not related to the school itself. It requires that we all remain in the building to stay safe (e.g., bank robbery near a school). During a “Hold and Secure” response, the Principal or designate will ring the school bell to signal for staff
and students that are outside to come in immediately. There will be an announcement as follows:

“Our school is initiating a Hold and Secure response. Caretakers, please lock exterior doors. Available staff
members, please (report to the office or your assigned entrances/exterior door) according to our
school safety plan. We will let you know as soon as the situation is resolved. Thank you.”

Once everyone is in the building, the exterior doors will be locked, and staff will attend each entry point to
monitor. Once the Hold and secure response has been ended, there will be another announcement to
confirm: “Our school has completed a Hold and Secure response. Thank you for your co-operation.”

While in a “Hold and Secure” response our school and classes continue to function as they normally
would. Again, because the potential danger is outside the building, the exterior doors will be locked
until the situation is resolved. As always, students are expected to follow the directions of their teacher.

More information is also available at:

https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Secure-Schools-November-2018.pdf

https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/secondary/supports/secure-schools/

Thanks,

Mr. Pellizzari (Temporary Principal) and Ms. Gokhale (Vice-Principal)