DeWitt Public Schools moves to building-level emergency plans, adds cardiac response and expanded training

DeWitt Public Schools leaders told the board that the district is replacing its single, district-level emergency operations plan with individual plans for every building, expanding each document to more than 150 pages and embedding a newly required cardiac emergency response plan.

The change follows release of a new template from the Michigan State Police, district staff said, and will require schools across the district to use the state-mandated Standard Response Protocol and a new Building Emergency Response Team, or BERT, terminology. District staff described the update at the board meeting while summarizing training, equipment purchases and facility security work completed this year.

A district staff member told the board the move shifts the district from “one district plan” to a separate plan for each school building, increasing the size of each plan from roughly 40–60 pages to over 150 pages per building. The staff member said Secure Environment Consultants (SCC), DeWitt Township Police and the district safety committee assisted in adapting the state template.

The presentation said the district also incorporated a…