“I Love U Guys” Foundation John-Michael Keyes, presents to audience during the first day of reunification training.

GCCISD employees prepare for the second day of the reunification training.

Attendees participated in a reunification exercise at Stallworth Stadium during the second day of the training.

GCCISD and HCDE Hosted Standard Reunification Method - Reunification Exercise (SRM-REx)

By: Kristyn Hunt Cathey, GCCISD Director of Communications

Nearly every day, organizations worldwide experience some kind of incident requiring evacuation from their facilities. When these events occur at a school, staff must ensure efficient and accurate parent/guardian reunification with their students.

The Standard Reunification Method (SRM) provides schools with proven methods to conduct a successful reunification. In order to help schools plan and practice, The "I Love U Guys" Foundation has developed the Standard Reunification Method - Reunification Exercise (SRM-REx).

The Harris County Department of Education partnered with Goose Creek CISD to host the two-day training, held June 6-7th. Dr. Anthony Price, GCCISD Chief Operations Officer and Robert Marquez, Director of Safe and Secure Schools, took lead roles during the training.

Over 100 guests from districts within regions four and five as well as local law enforcement who have a role in reunification, ensuring a common understanding of the process, establishing the use of common language, and strengthening the relationships with our community partners, attended the event. The process included focused classroom training, tabletop exercises, and functional demonstrations and exercises to prepare attendees to conduct an actual reunification of students with their parents or guardians.

The “I Love U Guys” Foundation was started in 2006 by Ellen and John-Michael Keyes following a school shooting that took the life of their daughter, Emily. On that day, Emily sent two text messages... One to her mother, Ellen, "I love u guys. K" and to her father, John-Michael, "I love you guys." Today, the Foundation is led and supported by survivors, family members, first responders and community members with a vested interest in safety, preparedness and reunification in schools.

The “I Love U Guys” Foundation’s programs for crisis response, the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), and post-crisis reunification, the Standard Reunification Method (SRM) are used in more than 30,000 schools, districts, departments, agencies, organizations and communities around the world. They are created through the research-based best practices of school administrators, psychologists, public space safety experts, families, and first responders.

Davis Smith, Chief of Police for GCCISD, attended the two-day event and walked away with a wealth of knowledge. “This is information that we all need to know,” he said. “It’s not just for law enforcement. As district leaders, we have to be as prepared as possible and this training has provided us with those tools.”