Harper Creek outlines expanded emergency protocols, Rave alert camera integration and classroom flip charts

Mister Ridgeway, an administrator for Harper Creek Community Schools, updated the board on a sequence of safety improvements the district plans to roll out before the school year.

Ridgeway said the district has been revising building emergency operations plans (EOPs) and will distribute compact "flip charts" for every classroom that condense building-level procedures into a teacher-facing quick reference. "A flip chart basically would have this binder, a smaller portion of what teachers would have to deal with in their classrooms," Ridgeway said, explaining the charts will be part of staff training on the August 19 professional-development day.

The administration is also testing Rave panic-alert integration with campus cameras and GPS location. Ridgeway said a Rave alert triggered from a phone on campus will also pull up the nearest camera feed at the 911 center so first responders and dispatchers can get immediate visual information. "So if it is really the worst case scenario, they can get eyes on the situation now instead of having to figure it out," Ridgeway said. The district planned a test of the Rave-camera integration on July 23.

Other measures discussed include quarterly verification of emergency contact lists, adding brief monthly safety reminders into school-level staff meetings and aligning radio channels with local resource officers. Ridgeway told the board that Chris Young, the county emergency manager, reported stadium cameras are available for large events and that an upgrade to the 911 tower at Sonoma had not interrupted service.

The district framed these actions as procedural improvements and training steps rather than changes to policy. Ridgeway said the next step is building-level meetings to gather staff input and finalize the rollout schedule.

No formal board action was taken; the item was presented for information and discussion.