School Emergency Response Training & Annual Drills 

Dear parents and guardians,I am writing to provide you with some information regarding emergency drills that we will be conducting this school year.At Westside Secondary School, the safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority. Although we hope that an incident that requires response from emergency personnel will never occur in our school, we must be prepared to respond quickly and effectively in case it does.Each year our school must conduct drills to ensure staff and students are prepared in the event of a real emergency. While our school has been conducting fire drills, lockdown drills and tornado drills for the last several years, beginning this school year, we are now also required to conduct bomb threat drills.The protocol requires the following number of drills in each school year:

• Three (3) fire drills in the fall and three (3) fire drills in the spring

• Two (2) lockdown drills

• One (1) tornado

• One (1) bomb threat drill

For each of these drills, there is an education component to explain why they are necessary. All drills are conducted in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of student.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Sincerely,

Kevin Taylor, Principal