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Wise County schools pass mutual aid agreement


All eight Wise County school districts formalized their decision to team up in time of crisis, approving a mutual aid agreement to help each other out in the event of an emergency.

Decatur, Bridgeport, Northwest, Boyd, Paradise, Alvord, Chico and Slidell schools recently approved the agreement, which clears up any legal hold ups for extending resources between schools.

“It’s an agreement to do what we would have done with each other anyway in time of some type of crisis to render aid,” Decatur ISD Superintendent Joseph Coburn said before Decatur trustees approved the agreement. “The most significant piece is that we agree to help one another and cover the cost in the short term and even up. There’s no cost to being involved in this. If you’re the one needing help or assistance, you’re agreeing to pay it back. It’s a good thing that all the schools have agreed to be a part of it.”

The agreement allows each district to provide support in the event of a natural disaster or unexpected occurrence, including busses, facilities and other areas of support.

The process started with district emergency preparedness meetings held by the Wise County Office of Emergency Management that brought district representatives together along with members of local law enforcement, EMS and fire departments.

From there, Boyd ISD director of maintenance and operations James McDonald worked to iron out a document that could be implemented, hosting separate meetings with district officials.

“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity,” McDonald said. “For me, it was born out of an idea that we already had in place, to help each other out. The districts are really good about supporting each other in this county. This makes it more formal and we came to agreement on something near and dear to all of us – student safety.”

By themselves, a district could find itself in a bind if disaster struck, McDonald said, but together they would have the resources and backing of eight entities. Now, there’s a legal document to shore those specifics up.

According to the pact, which went through the various districts’ legal representatives before being brought to trustees, the parties recognize that a formal agreement for mutual aid between the school districts inside the Wise County jurisdiction would allow for better coordination of effort, providing adequate equipment and manpower is available, and would help ensure that mutual aid is accomplished in the minimum time possible in the event of a disaster or civil emergency.

The agreement outlines Boyd ISD as the administrative agency, responsible for establishing and maintaining point of contact information among the eight districts.

Cody Powell of the Wise County Office of Emergency Management said the agreement increases the resilience of the districts by combining resources.

“For me the greatest thing is eight independent districts have all come together,” Powell said. “Through meetings with county emergency management, fire, police, EMS, we saw everyone work together. And now there’s an outcome that everyone agreed to. That’s probably the greatest thing to see. Whether it be school districts, cities or counties, any time different entities work together for the greater good it’s always a good thing to see.”

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