ERT Team was called and School was altered of a “Stay Put”

Emergency Response Team (ERT Team) was called to Zone 5 in the Intermediate School
on October 16th at 1:10. Our school was alerted of a “Stay Put” was in place. WE had a student
who was having an emotional breakdown in Zone 5. I am a member of the ERT team, so I
headed toward Zone 5, which is near the main entrance of the school. When I arrived at the
location, I was informed by his case worker that her student had left the building on foot. The
school nurse and special education teacher met us at this location. After I knew who the student
was who left the building, I ran back into the building to grab a dry erase white board with a
marker. This student communicates much better by writing down what is wrong or what trigger
his behavior. When I returned, I asked the nurse and special education to head back into the
school. The EBD teacher and I could handle the situation between the two of us. We had our
walkie-talkies and cellphones to keep communication with the school and other ERT team
members. Our school principal was not in the building at the time of the student exiting the
school building.

This student has an IEP and in the plan we are not to chase after him because the situation
will turn for the worst at that point. He had stopped 100 yards away from the front doors of the
school entrance. He was standing next to the fence near the football field. The EBD teacher and
I stood in the parking lot discussing our next steps with the student. Then the student walked
along the fence toward the street that runs next to the school. We called the student’s mother
when the student moved toward the road. We were worried for the student’s safety getting too
close to the road. We let the parent know we were calling the police department too. We wanted
to make sure the roadway was safe in case the student made some poor decisions. I walked the
dry erase board out towards him in the hopes of getting him to communicate with us what was
wrong. I placed the board about 30 feet from the student and stepped away from it to allow him
space to walk over to the board to communicate with us. After I put the board down and walked
away, the student started walking up the sidewalk toward a very busy intersection. The student
stood by the corner of the fence, which was 25 feet from the intersection. He stood there for
about 5 minutes while we moved closer towards him up the sidewalk. Then the student crossed
the road near the houses across from the school. I was worried for his safety, so I walked behind
him in the middle of the road as he continued to walk down the road towards the school. The
police department hadn’t showed up yet, so I stopped any traffic on the road to keep everyone
safe. By the time, the student walked back to the school parking lot, the police department was
driving down our main road. The EBD teacher communicated with the police officer about the
situation as I followed the student back into the school. We called his mother back to let her
know her son was okay and back into the school safe.

After this situation happened, we set up a meeting with the mother, principal, nurse,
student’s teacher, and EBD teacher. It is important to set up a plan about when and where we
will involve the police department if the student leaves the school grounds. It is important to
look at making some adjustment with our procedures when the student gets to this point of
leaving the building.