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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
He also told them that teachers cannot prevent parents from removing their children from classrooms during emergency closings, but confirmed that they can allow children to leave locked rooms to go to the bathroom.
Stacy Squires / Stuff
In a new guide for schools, the Ministry of Education says teachers cannot prevent parents from removing their children from classrooms during emergency closings.
The advice comes in the form of guidance and legal information that the ministry has been developing since the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre led to the closure of the city’s schools and early childhood centers.
In recent years, lockdown drills have become increasingly common in many schools, and some have had to implement their preparations when suspected criminals have passed near or on school grounds.
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The ministry’s guide stated that schools should prepare for emergencies, including situations where there are violent criminals in the area.
“Drills should be practiced on what to do in violent situations, but at a time when children / youth are not on the scene, as drills can cause undue fear and anxiety,” the guide said.
“An attacker on your premises may require a combination of responses. Delaying your access to potential victims should be a priority.
“Depending on the size of your site / campus, and the ages and abilities of your children and youth, can some groups walk away from potential harm (escape)? What messages can be used to indicate that some groups might escape? an alert system that removes people from the area where the danger is, for example, in a high school “aggressive intruder in block C … stay away from this area.”
Simon Rogers / RNZ
The ministry has been developing the guide since the Christchurch mosque massacre led to the closure of the city’s schools and early childhood centers.
The guidelines noted that schools and early learning centers must inform parents of their emergency arrangements, including arrangements to pick up children.
That was a problem for some Christchurch schools, when parents tried to pick up their children during the 2019 closure.
Separately released legal information said schools and early learning services had a responsibility to keep staff, children and youth safe.
“This responsibility must be balanced with the right of parents to remove their child from school or early learning service if they wish. Opening the school or early learning service to a parent could be a risk when there is danger. unknown, “it said.
“If despite being warned of the risks of letting children out of school or an early learning service in the middle of a lockdown or shelter-in-place event, the parent or caregiver insists that the school / service should leave your child in your care, the school / service will have to do it. “
Canterbury Elementary Principals Association president Shane Buckner said schools had been waiting for clear guidance on what they were allowed to do in such situations.
But he said allowing parents to pick up children could be tricky.
“It’s something surprising, especially if you put yourself back in that situation of confinement where they don’t want mass groups around,” he said.
Somerfield School Principal Denise Torrey said the guidelines were good to have.
“We just wanted to know if we could hand over the children to their parents or not,” he said.
“I can see that there might be problems with [that] but we wanted to know what our legal right was and I suppose they are telling us through these guidelines. “
He said that going to the bathroom was a problem for many schools during the city’s closure in 2019.
“We had kids using buckets and plastic bags, which was probably more nerve-wracking than trying to get to the nearest bathroom. So I think the ministry has heard some of the comments about this from whānau and schools,” he said.
Torrey said she disagreed that schools should not practice locking up classrooms with their students.
The guide said that practicing for violent situations could cause undue fear and anxiety.
Torrey said her school held three drills each quarter, one for each fire, earthquake and lockdown, and they were a good way to spot any flaws in their planning.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / STUFF / Stuff
Phil Holstein, president of the Canterbury West Coast Secondary Principals Association.
Canterbury West Coast Secondary Principals Association President Phil Holstein was part of a task force that considered how schools handled the Christchurch closure and what led to the ministry’s orientation.
“A lot of problems became apparent and one of the most important things was that parents wanted to make sure that their children were safe and that a good number went to schools and they also hoped they could take their children,” he said.
“The schools in his position weren’t sure what to do, because they told us we had to keep all of our students in place and inside, so there was tension.”
Holstein said it is now clear that schools must allow parents to pick up children, but in a controlled manner.
He said schools needed to make sure students knew what to do during a lockdown and his school did it in a way that did not cause anxiety.
“I think it can be kept very low,” he said.
Holstein said he was sad that Christchurch experienced both the terrorist attacks on the mosque last year and the 2011 earthquake, and his experiences would help ensure that other schools were better prepared for emergencies.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
