Pasco School District details crisis plans, four "flight teams" and planned reunification drill

Superintendent Michelle Whitney told the Pasco School District Board of Directors on the evening of the regular meeting that the district's crisis planning and response are governed by state law and supported by local and federal partners. "We have amazing public safety partners that are really an integral part of our emergency operations," Whitney said, citing ongoing collaboration with the Pasco Police Department, FEMA, the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the state risk-management pool.

The presentation summarized the district's emergency operations plans (EOPs), which Whitney said have been standardized across school sites using materials from the I Love You Guys Foundation. The EOPs, required under state RCWs, include prevention, mitigation, protection, response and recovery components; documented monthly drills; annual updates and documented training for district administrators and principals on the incident command system (ICS).

Assistant Superintendent Mira Goble described the district's post-incident supports, including "flight teams" of trained counselors, nurses and administrators that can be deployed to provide post-trauma care. "A designated flight team coordinator oversees the activation," Goble said. Goble said the district maintains four flight teams so teams can rotate and multiple teams can be deployed if more than one building is affected.

Board members asked for details about on-site security. Vice President Steve Simmons asked whether the district maintains personnel on campus who could “neutralize” an active shooter; Whitney responded that Pasco assigns sworn school resource officers (SROs) to secondary schools and that elementary security focuses on exterior hardening and secured vestibules. "Our employees that are security officers are not armed," Whitney said when asked specifically about district security staff; she added that Pasco Police officers are armed as a standard while in uniform.

Officials said the district is continuing to refine terminology and procedures to reduce confusion across regional partners; the district has adopted the term "secure and teach" to describe securing the building while continuing instruction (replacing the older, sometimes confusing distinction between "lockout" and "lockdown"). Whitney and Goble said the district also debriefs after every critical incident and works with Pasco Police and other regional agencies to update protocols.

Looking ahead, district staff said they will coordinate a multi-agency reunification drill with the Pasco Police Department this spring, using an off-site location such as the HAPO Center for parent–student reunification. Goble and Whitney said the district has also begun expanding flight-team roles beyond death-loss events to provide systematic support after other traumas and that the EOPs will continue to be revised before the 2025–26 school year.

No formal board action was taken on the safety report during the meeting; the board's presentation served as an update and a prompt for further discussion about training and operational details.