Monday morning, my heart started pumping a little faster than normal. I have my own "Google" page with all the different news sources I want on it (RSS feeds for the Internet know it all.) I keep our my local newspaper on it and it gives me "breaking news alerts." Imagine my surprise when I see Jenelle's school in a headline that reads "Fire at ___ Elementary - Students Evacuated!"
Turns out, it wasn't a real fire but rather a faulty air conditioning unit that filled a room with smoke (electrical problems.) The room wasn't even in Jenelle's building. Luckily, the special education classes do not start until 9:15 and the fire was called in shortly after 8:30. So Jenelle and the rest of her classmates (almost all in wheelchairs) were kept on the bus that had just arrived at the school. Apparently, it was quite a mess. More than 30 school buses (short buses) lined up in the parking lot and out into the residential street, and 4 huge fire trucks! Eventually she made it into her classroom once they were given the all clear.
Can you imagine trying to evacuate children in wheelchairs? Oh my! I spoke to her teacher after reading the news, and she said it was exciting and quite a mess as the principal was not on site that day. When I picked Jenelle up from school that day, I asked her if anything exciting happened at school. She simply gave me her best "raspberry." And I think that was the best response for the situation after the fact. So glad it wasn't worse.
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There have actually been a few fire drills since Ethan started school last year. Since the ratio of staff to children is a little less than 1-1, it takes them longer to get out of the building. Some paras push two kids at once, never mind packing them all up if they're out of their chairs in standers, etc. It's frightening to really think about it, but I'm glad they're practicing, I guess.
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