In this featured piece by The Sun Times News, the outlet covers how Saline Area Schools is adopting a common set of safety terms so students, staff, families, and first responders understand the same words during drills or emergencies. The district uses the Standard Response Protocol from the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, which relies on five clear actions: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter. Saline connected this shared language to InformaCast, a notification system from Singlewire, to deliver clear instructions across the district’s buildings. Michigan schools are required to adopt standardized emergency response terminology by the start of the 2026-27 school year, and Saline had already begun using the protocol ahead of that deadline.
Key Takeaways
- The Standard Response Protocol, developed by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, uses five clear actions: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter.
- Michigan schools must adopt standardized emergency response terminology by the start of the 2026-27 school year, and Saline Area Schools began following the practice ahead of that requirement.
- Saline adopted the protocol after Michigan State Police introduced it at a School Safety Academy in summer 2024.
- Saline connected the shared safety language to InformaCast, a notification system from Singlewire, to deliver instructions across the high school’s 550,000 square feet, including gyms, stairwells, and isolated hallways.
- Saline does not conduct unannounced drills; students practice the procedures through regular, age-appropriate drills, including social stories for younger grades.
Original Story
Saline Area Schools is using a common set of safety terms so students, staff, families and first responders know what the same words mean during drills or emergencies.
The district uses the Standard Response Protocol, or SRP, from the I Love U Guys Foundation. The protocol uses five actions: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter. Each one gives students and adults a clear direction…
The district has also connected the safety language with InformaCast, a notification system from Singlewire. Jay Grossman, Saline’s director of instructional technology, said the system helps the district send clear messages throughout school buildings.
“With 550,000 square feet to cover at the high school alone, we needed to ensure every corner, including noisy gyms, stairwells, and isolated hallways, could receive clear, actionable instructions,” Grossman said.