Under federal regulation, each school district and school building is required to have an emergency response plan to ensure the safety of students and staff when faced with an emergency situation.

On Oct. 19, Garden City Public Schools, the Village of Garden City, the Garden City police and fire departments, BOCES, the district's Health and Safety Team, the Stratford Health and Safety Committee, the district's Transportation Department and central administration worked collaboratively to execute the Stratford Emergency Response Plan. The plan was put to the test during a simulation exercise involving the evacuation of students and staff. Seven hundred and forty-six students and 74 staff members were safely transported to an evacuation site while Stratford was secured for their return.

The emergency response drill tested the validity of the building level emergency response plan - particularly the layers of communication, the district's ability to evacuate students and relocate them to a temporary shelter site and the ability of school staff to manage children and work with administration and emergency services during a building emergency.

Under the leadership of Principal Diane Hopkins and Assistant Principal Susan Guiliano, Stratford Avenue School initiated the emergency response plan. Emergency personnel were called to the scene and transportation was called upon evacuation. Stratford students were escorted away from the building to a staging area where they awaited instructions. Transportation arrived promptly while the Garden City Police Department controlled local traffic. Students and staff loaded buses and were transported to St. Paul's Field House, where they stayed until the school building was searched and deemed safe by district administration and police and fire authorities.

Part of the emergency response plan included setting up a triage area at the evacuation site in an effort to tend to injured students or staff if needed. No injuries of any kind were experienced. Also tested was the ability to evacuate disabled persons within the building. At the end of the simulation, Principal Hopkins complimented students and staff for their cooperation throughout this two-hour drill. The entire drill was also videotaped, and observers watched closely as the plan carried out. The district will use the data collected from the observers and from the videotape to conduct additional training for district employees and to revise and update the emergency response plans.