The "I Love U Guys" Foundation

The “I Love U Guys” Foundation

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by James Englert, PCI # 1081
Arapahoe County (CO) Sheriff’s Office
IPMBA Industry Liaison

Hopefully you had the chance to attend the IPMBA conference in Asheville, North Carolina, April 23-30, 2016. One of the many highlights was our keynote speaker, John-Michael Keyes. John-Michael is the founder of The “I Love U Guys” Foundation. I’ve heard him speak several times, and each time I walk away with a new insight on school safety and preparedness.

In the last year and a half, I’ve become good friends with John-Michael. I reached out to him after the shooting at my high school on December 12, 2013. At that time, I was looking for a perspective on everything going on, especially from a different point of view than mine.

I knew John-Michael would have a different perspective. He and his wife, Ellen, lost their daughter, Emily, in the 2006 school shooting at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado.

During the time Emily was held hostage, she texted “I love you guys” and “I love u guys. k?” to her parents. That is how the foundation got its name. To quote from their website, “Emily's kindness, spirit, fierce joy, and the dignity and grace shown by the Keyes family following this tragic event define the core of The “I Love U Guys” Foundation.”

John-Michael is a huge proponent of school safety, which is the focus of many of his presentations. As Executive Director of The “I Love U Guys” Foundation, he has lead the development of the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and the Standard Reunification Method (SRM).

I value the reasoning behind both the SRP and the SRM. They provide a standard method for schools to perform lockdowns and deal with any given crisis situation in and around their buildings. The SRP was originally designed for schools (elementary to college), but recently, some businesses have begun implementing the SRP.

The SRM is a simple, standard method schools can use to establish a protocol to reunite students with parents after an incident. Both the SRP and SRM have been implemented and tested – and they work.

I am a big fan of the SRP and SRM, mainly because they are easy to use and are available at no cost from The “I Love U Guys” Foundation website. All the information is available on-line, including PowerPoint® presentations used for teaching school personnel.

Standard Response Protocol

The SRP is not based on individual scenarios, but rather on the response to any given scenario. The premise is simple and the vocabulary is standardized. There are four specific actions (labeled with a “Term of Art”) that can be performed during an incident. Each of the four actions is followed by a directive. The action is then performed by everyone involved, including students, staff, and students.

Lockout is followed by the directive “Secure the Perimeter”. It is the protocol used to safeguard students and staff within the building.
Lockdown is followed by the directive “Locks, Lights, and Out of Sight”. It is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep students quiet and in place.
Evacuate is always followed by a location, and is used to move students and staff from one location to another, either inside or outside of the building.
Shelter is always followed by the hazard and a safety strategy and is the protocol for group and self-protection.

An advantage for using these terms is they function as both a verb and a noun. For example, from the SRP K12 2.0-2015 booklet, if the action is Lockdown, the announcement over the public address system would be, “Lockdown! Locks, Lights, Out of Sight.” The information given to law enforcement would be, “We are under Lockdown.”

Each response has a specific student and staff action. The Evacuate action is always followed by a location such as: “Evacuate to the Bus Zone”, “Evacuate to Hallway”, “Shelter for Tornado”, or “Drop, Cover and Hold”. During a critical incident, commands need to be quick and simple to follow, and the information given must be concise.

One of the biggest benefits of using the SRP is it standardizes the vocabulary to all the stakeholders. If everyone uses the same terms – not just within their own schools, districts, or communities, but across the nation – there is less chance of miscommunication and a greater chance of success in neutralizing the threat without harm.

For Students: it provides continuity of expectations and actions throughout their education.
For Teachers: it provides a simple process to train and drill.
For First Responders: it provides common vocabulary and protocols and establishes a greater predictability that persists throughout the incident.
For Parents: it provides a better understanding of the practices and can reinforce the protocol.

There is a critical difference between Lockdown and Lockout. In a nutshell, Lockout recovers students from outside the building and locks the outside doors. This would be implemented when the threat is outside. Lockdown is a classroom-based protocol that requires locking the classroom door, turning off the classroom lights, and placing students out of sight of any corridor windows. The students are required to remain quiet.

An important part of the SRP is to keep the students informed. Kids are smart and it is the responsibility of the authorities and teachers to communicate with them. While information is definitely tempered for the elementary school ages, it is essential to give students in higher grades accurate information to enhance survivability, minimize panic, and mitigate recovery.

Standard Reunification Method

One question I was probably asked the most was about the reunification of the students with their parents after the incident at my school. For the first few months my answer was “I don’t know, I wasn’t at the reunification.”

I think an area where SRO’s and schools fail in thinking is after the incident. Using the SRM make it is easier to think about and plan for the conclusion.

The SRM is just exactly what the name says it is, a Standard Reunification Method that provides school and district safety teams with information about what you should do and plan for following an incident. It includes the paperwork you should have prior to the incident. It also shows you how to set up your facility for the reunification process.

Once an incident has happened and parents want to pick up their kids is not the time to start planning on how you are going to reunite families.

The SRM, which is based on the practices developed by the Adams 12, Five Star School District in Thornton, Colorado, and the Jefferson County School District in Golden, Colorado, is rooted in accountability. Accountability is achieved through a process based on managing the physical location of students, staff and of incoming parents.

The method involves seven key aspects:

Establish a Parent Check-In Location.
Deliver the students to the student staging area, beyond the field of vision of parents/guardians. “Greeters” direct parents/guardians to the Parent Check-In Location and explain the process.
Parents/guardians complete Reunification Cards.
Parents/guardians self-sort during check in, streamlining the process.
Runners recover students from the student staging area, where “KidHerds” help maintain order and identify students for the Runners.
Controlled lines of sight allow for communication and other issues to be handled with diminished drama or anxiety.
Medical or investigative contingencies are anticipated.

In addition, crisis counselors can be on-hand or on standby, and entertainment (e.g., movies) may be provided to keep kids occupied and from dwelling on the incident.

As is the case with the Standard Response Protocol, the Standard Reunification Method functions most effectively when all stakeholders – school personnel, students and parents, and first responders are all aware of the process and use the same vocabulary.

What Does it Cost?

I think one of the best parts of the SRP/SRM is that they are available online at http://www.iloveuguys.org. ; The material is free for departments, districts, agencies, and organizations to use. They are funded by contributions from the private sector. The conditions of use can be found at http://iloveuguys.org/how_it_works.html and appear below.

1. Materials are not re-sold.

2. Core actions and directives are not modified.

a. Lockout – “Secure the Perimeter”
b. Lockdown – “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight”
c. Evacuate – To the Announced Location
d. Shelter – Stating hazard and strategy

3. Notification of use is provided to The “I Love U Guys” Foundation through one of the following:

a. Email notice to srp@iloveuguys.org
b. Notice of Intent
c. Memorandum of Understanding

4. The following modifications to the materials (posters, handouts, cards) are allowable:

a. Localization of evacuation events
b. Localization of shelter events

The signed “Notice of Intent” or a “Memorandum of Understanding” is required to obtain original digital artwork.

Additional Resources

In the materials, there are Red Card/Green Card/Med Card for evacuations: Red Card for when you need help; Green card if everything is OK; and Med Card if you need medical help.

The “I Love U Guys” Foundation takes into consideration most things you will need for an incident, even the paper you place on exterior doors to notify people outside the school that you are in a lockdown or performing a drill.

The “I Love U Guys” website goes into greater detail on how to perform drills and offers best practices for your school in planning for and during a critical incident.

To meet multiple demands, The “I Love U Guys” Foundation has developed specific protocols for Pre-K to Second Grade, Colleges and Technical Schools, and Businesses and Institutions, with guidance on how to train for each group.

Certification

You can also get school/business certified. As the SRP K12 booklet states, certification is a way “to assess the fidelity of the implementation within an organization.” The certification program is optimal but it is not required to use the program.

The Briefings

Each year John-Michael hosts a conference called the “The Briefings: A National School Safety Symposium”, usually held at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. This week-long symposium examines lessons learned from traumatic events and provides information on pre-emptive school safety measures. Visit www.thebriefings.org for more information.

In Conclusion

I’m a little biased when I talk about the SRP and SRM because of my friendship with the Keyes family, but one of the reasons I am a strong believer is that the SRP/SRM Protocols are simple and easy to use. It is unfortunate that we live in a time when we need to be familiar with these concepts, but you need to have a plan for if and when that day should happen.

This article can’t do justice to describe the SRP and SRM; check out the “I Love U Guys” website.

James has been a deputy with Arapahoe County for 16 years. He has worked in the jail and on the road. He became a School Resource Officer (SRO) in 2006. He was certified as an IPMBA Police Cyclist in 2006 and an IPMBA Instructor in 2008. He received the ASCO Award of Valor and the NASRO National Award of Valor in 2014 for his role in the December 2013 school shooting. He was elected to the IPMBA Board in 2012 and currently serves as Industry Liaison. He can be reached at jenglert9926@gmail.com.

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