(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- DuPage County announced a new mutual aid agreement on Wednesday that will help schools respond to emergencies.
It’s called the DuPage County School Mutual Aid Response Team, or DuSMART.
The goal is to bring school districts across DuPage County together and share resources when a particular school or district is experiencing a crisis.
“Under the agreement, participating school districts and cooperatives can provide personnel, equipment and staging facilities appropriate to the nature of the catastrophic event without incurring liability,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said Wednesday.
The initiative is modeled after the success of MERIT, the Metropolitan Emergency Response Investigative Team that police use when responding to major crimes across the county.
“The agreement recognizes that it is in the best interest of students, school staff and communities that school districts and special education cooperatives join together to plan for emergencies and be prepared to assist each other during catastrophic events,” added Berlin.
DuSMART also creates county-wide standards for school districts when it comes to safety training and emergency responses.
While she hopes it’s never needed, Elmhurst District 205 Superintendent Dr. Keisha Campbell says it takes a village to get through catastrophic moments.
“When one of us is in need, we believe that we are all in need,” she said. “And it is so important to be ready and to be willing to support each other, to be that village.”
So far, 23 of DuPage County’s 42 school districts and cooperatives have signed on to the agreement.
Participation requires the approval of school boards, which will be responsible for contributing roughly $250 a year to DuSMART.
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