Following a call from a Richmond parent, the city’s school board is taking steps towards prioritizing emergency preparedness.
Karina Reid, whose child attends Homma Elementary, spoke to Richmond’s Board of Education on Wednesday evening about her concerns for the lack of emergency supplies in the city’s schools. According to Reid, some parent advisory councils have opted to fundraise for emergency supplies such as water, first aid, shelter, food and hygiene items for their schools, while others have not. As a result, not all schools are equally prepared.
“Every single child in Richmond should have the same fundamental supplies,” she told Richmond News, adding that the responsibility belongs to the school board. “PACs shouldn’t be fundraising for supplies.”
Reid also said some schools don’t have a designated place for all of their supplies. Due to a lack of space, items can sometimes be spread throughout the school which could make it difficult to access them during an emergency.
Another of Reid’s concerns was how parents will be reunited with their children following an emergency.
“Are we prepared for reunification? That’s the biggest scare – not knowing where your child is,” she said. “Richmond should be the most prepared city in the Lower Mainland,” she added.
Reid said the school board acknowledged they weren’t as prepared as they wanted to be.
“Everybody is aware of the discrepancy,” she said. “But how long do we have to wait to get this done?”
Eric Yung, school liaison for Richmond’s Board of Education, told Richmond News that this is an issue the school board has been working on for a while.
“This wasn’t the first notice we’ve had on this,” he said. “Every parent wants their children to be safe.”
The biggest obstacle, Yung said, is that the province has published emergency preparedness guidelines, but hasn’t provided school boards with the funding needed to implemented these requirements.
“The province can’t just ask us to do something that costs us money, then expect us to come up with additional funding for it,” he said. “We’re not quibbling about what would be a base level of preparedness because the government has already established that.”
Yung also noted that while providing items like emergency backpacks for each child might put parents at ease, this would be a significant expense that would “do nothing for emergency preparedness for staff.”
“When we create a policy, we have to take into account everybody that’s in the school,” he said. “We’re responsible for everybody.”
Reid’s report will now be taken to staff for consideration. She said she hopes the school board conducts an inventory of what schools currently have, then allocates funds to ensure everyone has equal access to supplies, especially if it’s for a school in need of seismic upgrades. Yung also noted that the board also hopes to take an inventory of what schools have and what they need.
“If we’re not prepared, we will not survive this,” Reid said. “Emergency preparedness should be top of mind for everyone.”
