Chapel Hill ISD has adopted a standard response program through the I Love You Guys foundation. The “i love u guys” Foundation was started in 2006 by Ellen and John Michael Keyes following a school shooting that took the life of their daughter.

On September 27th, 2006 a gunman entered Bailey, Colorado’s Platte Canyon High School and held seven girls hostage where he shot and killed Emily Keyes. During the time she was held hostage, Emily sent her parents the text messages, “i love you guys” and “i love u guys. k?”.

The Foundation is committed to school, community safety, and family reunification following a crisis. Its programs have been implemented by over 25,000 schools, agencies and organizations across the United States and Canada.

“This foundation has seen a need and tried to meet it with their program.  Preparation is key to successfully making it through an emergency situation,” said CTE Director Brad Langley.  “The program is especially valuable in the school setting because of the large populations that must be directed in an emergency situation. As an administrator, I feel more comfortable knowing we use a proven safety program in our district.”

Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter, and Hold are the five responses suggested in case of an emergency. The differentiation between Lockout and Lockdown is a critical element.

A Lockout recovers all students from outside the building, secures the building perimeter, and locks all outside doors. The response encourages greater staff situational awareness; it allows for educational practices to continue with little classroom interruption or distraction. A Lockdown is initiated by the directive “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight”; it is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep students quiet and in place.

Evacuate means to go to a new location, and is used to move students and staff from one location to a different one, in or out of the building. Shelter is for a hazard or inclement weather using a safety strategy and is the protocol for group and self protection. Hold is to clear the halls and to keep students & staff in the classroom, in case of a concern, until an “all clear” announcement is made.

Each campus of the district will be practicing these procedures throughout the school year for staff and students to be prepared in case of an emergency.