It’s hard to believe but there are only a few short weeks until students across the country will be back to school campuses. Many chief technology officers and school principals/administrators have been prepping for the 2022-23 school year since summer break began, but there are a few tips concerning safety and communication that Layered Solutions wants to remind you of — and help you with — as we head back to school!
1. Address safety concerns during back to school days
If you have implemented any new or upgraded technology for communicating with teachers and staff members around your building, be sure to address it and provide any necessary training during your in-service days before students arrive back to school. Having a solid understanding of new technology prior to use is essential to success when putting it into practice. At Layered Solutions, we are proud to offer training sessions to relevant school staff members whenever necessary, but especially when going back to school with new communication systems.
With progressively-updating technology, like our InterCom+ system, teachers and administrators may feel more comfortable operating the legacy units they are used to and only having to learn new software on their computer or smart devices. InterCom+ integrates with disparate systems to evolve your school into a fully IP-based system on your budget and timeline while maintaining routine or emergency communication to individual classrooms or throughout the school with the touch of a button on any smart device!
2. Schedule your emergency drills early
When headed back to school, it’s important to review your state’s laws regarding emergency drills and their frequency. According to Indiana state law, each school in Indiana is required to conduct at least one fire drill per month (and within the first 10 days of school), as well as one tornado drill and one manmade occurrence disaster drill during each semester. In addition, at least one manmade occurrence disaster drill should be an active shooter drill and must be conducted within 90 days of the school year beginning.
Layered Solutions can support you in scheduling these drills using our PC Alert and InterCom+ technology, including alerting first responders of the drill (as opposed to a real threat response). When you work with LSI, your Messages Dashboard can be used to initiate a full-school page, preconfigured messages for both true emergencies and drills, plus the ability to pin high priority or frequently used messages at the top.
3. Keep up with attendance and status alerts
Attendance is a daily task for your teachers and front office that needs to work quickly and efficiently without a major disruption to the day. Teachers need to account for all students, and especially during an emergency situation or drill, they will need to report back to administrators, even when the front office is away from their desks.
With the LSI Mobile App and support for email/SMS, your teachers can benefit from the real-time sharing of roll call or ability to ask for additional support. This accountability is perfect for daily recess on the playground, as well as offsite classroom field trips. As schools adjust to a post-COVID world and start allowing more traveling and field trips, it is more important than ever to offer constant and convenient communication between teachers (or chaperones) and the administrators back at school.
If you are looking to upgrade the communication and notification systems at your school, Layered Solutions would be happy to help! Contact us today at 317-564-3208 to learn more or schedule a demo.
