The Reunification Process

During and after an emergency, it is important for parents and guardians to stay home, stay informed and be ready. The following guidelines will help parents in the event of a school emergency.

Stay Home–During an emergency, the most important contribution you can make to your student’s safety may be staying home. We know the natural instinct for a parent or guardian is to come to the school to protect their children. However, during a crisis, law enforcement and school personnel are busy working to control the situation and the arrival of parents may distract them from the emergency situation. Please do not come to the school before you receive notification from the school or district.

Stay Informed–Please be sure that your contact information including home phone number, mobile phone number and email address, are updated in Aspire, the student information system (SIS). Do not send text messages to students during an emergency; doing so may put your child at risk. In some cases, students may be asked to send a text message to a parent or guardian, providing a status update or relaying information about reunification. Please note that the reunification site might be a location other than the school.

Be Ready–Once it has been determined that reunification is necessary, Ogden School District will assist schools in notifying parents and guardians using a combination of email, phone calls and/or text messages. The goal of reunification is to safely and efficiently reunite students with authorized adults through a systematic release once identification has been verified. Schools will reunite students with parents and guardians as soon as possible during an emergency situation, while working with emergency responders to determine when it is safe to do so. These situations often take time and planning to ensure children are reunited safely.

What Families Should Expect

The reunification process may take several hours or even require overnight coordination, depending on several factors including the nature of the emergency, the location and accessibility of the reunification, and the level of disruption caused by the emergency. School administration and staff will maintain responsibilities until the event has concluded or their responsibilities have been transferred to other personnel. If there is a community-wide incident, it will require additional coordination and communication working with emergency responders.

1. Arrival: As parents arrive at the reunification site, greeters will explain the process and organize the group.
2. Identity verification: Identity and authorized custody is verified (A parent or guardian must bring photo ID in order for a child to be released to his or her custody).
3. Reunification Area: Following identify verification, adults will be escorted to an established reunification area.
4. Student Reunification: A designated school or district employee brings the student to their verified parent or guardian. Families will then be able to return to their homes.