After FEMA training, local agencies to develop new practices

A week-long school security training session at the FEMA Emergency Management Institute “will make a huge difference in how we do things here,” Superintendent Paul Turner said Tuesday.

People from the Grand Coulee Dam School District and other agencies nearby traveled to Emmitsburg, Maryland, last week on a grant, with meetings designed to get people in responding agencies who might be involved in some kind of security issues talking and planning together.

School security was only part of the training, Turner explained.

“We went into detail of what policies and procedures needed adjustments or changing,” Turner stated.

He said he plans to meet with school staff next week to review the highlights of the Maryland sessions.

“Our group will follow up with a planning session soon, and this will be an ongoing group, meeting on a quarterly basis,” Turner noted.

During the sessions, “we went through our protocols for different types of problems,” Turner stated.

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, had three groups at their institute — from Arizona; El Paso, Texas; and the local school district.

“Now the work will begin, to develop practices and show flexibility where needed,” Turner said.

Attending from the school district, in addition to Turner, were Anthony Foged, Lisa Lakin, Randy Bowman, Stephanie Duclos, and Tammy Norris.

Also attending were Randy August, Colville Tribes; Rick Paris, Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department; and Dale Carriere, Bureau of Reclamation.