District adopts Standard Response Protocols, plans Raptor reunification and 'Handle With Care' pilot

Oak Park - River Forest School District 200 presented a districtwide update on emergency response protocols and related safety measures during the March 20, 2025, board meeting.

District staff introduced the Standard Response Protocol, developed by the I Love You Guys Foundation, that uses five action commands — “hold,” “secure,” “lockdown,” “evacuate” and “shelter” — with standardized, canned language for each. Staff said the district rolled the protocol out to faculty and staff starting in January, shared information with parents, and released a student-facing video produced by district communications. Posters are being placed in classrooms and other locations and consistent language is expected to improve cross‑district coordination.

Administration reported plans to integrate the Raptor visitor management system’s emergency module and to sync Raptor with attendance records so classroom staff can record student locations during a drill or incident. That functionality, staff said, will help account for students who are temporarily located outside their home classroom during an emergency (for example, in related services or other supervised spaces).

The board heard about a planned pilot of a Handle With Care notification process with Oak Park Police that will send an email to a designated district inbox when a student experiences a traumatic event in the community. The email, staff said, will include the student’s name, parent name and incident date and will be used so teachers and counselors can be mindful of students’ needs without asking for details of the incident.

Board members asked about procedures for students stranded during drills, notification cadence for parents, special considerations for neurodivergent students, reunification planning and whether any physical modifications were required to implement the protocols. District staff said no building‑wide physical modifications are required for this rollout, though the district will reassess signage and minor control interfaces as needed, and staff will pursue a full-scale reunification exercise with partner agencies over the summer.

Several board members thanked staff for the work and asked that the student interns and participating staff provide feedback to help improve future hands‑on safety learning opportunities.