12 minute read
Granite’s crisis team
Along-time elementary school teacher dies over a weekend.
A school shooting happens off-campus but during school time.
A fifth-grader is hit by a car on her way to school.
Events such as these trigger the Granite School District Crisis Team. Often when such events occur, the statement is made that “grief counselors will be available at the school.” The grief counselors are the District Crisis Team.
When a crisis occurs, Ben Horsley, chief of staff for the district, and school directors, who are district staff overseeing numerous schools, are notified. From there, the District Crisis Team is activated.
“I get notified, and I start a text chain,” Judy Petersen, director of college and career readiness, said. “We always communicate everything using our technology. So I’ve got my crisis group and my leadership group. And we get everybody in those groups together and communicating and make it happen.”
The team
The District Crisis Team supports a school’s crisis team. Every school has a crisis team of the principal, vice-principals, counselors, social workers, the school psychologist, and others. They are the first to stand up.
In the case of a teacher’s death at Wright Elementary, only one member of the District Crisis Team was needed because the local crisis team had called upon neighboring schools. They had social workers from Lake Ridge Elementary, Orchard Elementary, Matheson Junior High and Cyprus High School.
Other times, like the recent Hunter High shooting, the entire five-person team is deployed. But, again, it depends on local resources and local needs.
The team has developed an easily accessible virtual folder available on all computers in the district.
“It’s our crisis folder,” Petersen said. “It has resources. It has the protocol for principals to follow, sample emails to parents to teachers, a sample script of what to say in your staff meeting, what to say in the classroom. So, we’ve gone over as much as we possibly can think of and put it in that file. And it’s dynamic. We’re always adjusting it.”
The protocol
The protocol is designed to flex depending on the situation.
For example, when the teacher died over the weekend there was time to prepare. Petersen explained the first step was a before-school meeting with administration, teachers and staff. Relevant details were shared, and a plan for the day was drawn up. The plan called for teachers to deliver the news. However, a District Crisis Team member could support the teacher if a teacher didn’t feel capable.
“You want kids to know before they get their social media because news travels fast,” Petersen said.
“We have a little script we follow,” Petersen said. “The script says you probably have people in your family who have passed away. You know of people who are sick, and you’re worried about them passing away. We talk about how that’s just part of life. It’s OK to feel sad. It’s OK to be scared. It’s OK not to know what to expect. Sometimes with the little kids we’ll use children’s books to help them understand grief.”
Teachers were also instructed to look for students who needed extra support. Those students are provided an increased level of intervention.
“We just talk to the kids because there’s that empty desk in the room. And it takes some time to process all of it,” Petersen said.
Petersen mentioned that by lunchtime, most students are feeling OK.
“In the afternoon, we flip it,” Petersen said. “After we’ve gone through our script, and we know that the kids are OK, then we turn it to a positive.”
The crisis team asks students to write cards for the family. The team models what to say.
“In this case, dear Mrs. So and So’s family. We’re so sorry about her passing. And then we asked them to write something really positive that they remember about that person, and then have them sign their name,” Petersen said. “And boy, some of the cards that we get are just so touching. We screen them because we don’t want anything inappropriate going to the deceased person’s home. But they’re just really, really good.”
In the case of an event like the Hunter shooting that happens suddenly, the District Crisis Team adapts the protocol because changes are happening so fast. For Hunter, there were two variables to control. First, the team could not enter until the school was safe, and secondly, a lot of planning and scheduling had to happen. For example, the information had to be sent to parents about the incident and the school’s response before being dismissed. Another planning issue was changing the bus schedule to allow a 1 p.m. dismissal. The crisis team also provided support to the Granite School District Police, who responded to the event.
Regardless of the size of the crisis, the District Crisis Team “Gathers the list of names of all of the students who their teachers and others identified to meet individually with a social worker. Because before we leave the school, we make sure that every parent of every student that we’ve met with during the day gets a call.”
The final action is a debriefing meeting for all people involved. The district crisis team wants to identify steps that went well and document learning points for the next crisis.
The personal cost
Members of the District Crisis Team have other responsibilities, but they drop their work at a moment’s notice.
“It takes a toll on us. It just zaps your energy,” Petersen said. “Before we leave the room or wherever we are debriefing, we articulate to each other what our plan is for self-care for when we get away from the situation. And that’s invaluable.”
SafeUT
Petersen mentioned how helpful the SafeUT app is for students. According to their website, “The SafeUT app provides a way to connect to licensed counselors that are ready to listen to any sized crisis or concern. Help is immediate and confidential, and as easy as reaching for your phone and sending that first text.”
Originally, SafeUT was designed for students and educators. However, the initiative proved successful, that two more SafeUT apps were created. SafeUT Frontline is for frontline workers like law enforcement, fire/EMS, healthcare professionals and their families. SafeUT National Guard is for members and their families serving in the Utah National Guard.l
By Bill Hardesty | b.hardesty@mycityjournals.com
The memorial on the side of the road in honor of the two Hunter students who died in January. The District Crisis Team had to adapt protocol the day of the shooting because of the variables involved. (Greg James/City Journals)
By Carl Fauver | c.fauver@mycityjournals.com
About the same time Taylorsville was officially becoming a city, in the summer of 1996, the community was also welcoming a new family into its borders. It was a time of big change for Utah’s “Centennial City” and for Ally and Eric Isom and their young family.
“We moved in near Arcadia Elementary School (3461 West 4850 South) in June 1996—with hardly any furniture—and two daughters: one about to start kindergarten (Alyssa) and the other age 2 1/2 (Kenna),” Ally Isom said. “Growing up, my family had moved 13 different times. So, I wanted to be [in Taylorsville] awhile.”
She got her wish, spending the next decade in that Taylorsville home. Two more children, both sons (Jace and Tate), joined the family while they were residents. She also helped on a couple of successful political campaigns during that time. But she was never a candidate herself—until now.
Former Taylorsville resident Ally Isom, 51, wants to be your next United States senator. She and her campaign volunteers are working hard on a big challenge. They hope to derail Utah’s senior U.S. Sen. Mike Lee on his path to a third six-year term.
But don’t think for a minute that long odds are going to scare off Isom. She’s been facing down challenges and doing “whatever it takes” since the moment she began calling Taylorsville home.
“Right after we moved in, I became pregnant, and I get horribly ill when I’m pregnant,” Ally said. “But we were bound and determined to have a healthy son. I ended up on 14 weeks of bedrest, before delivering Jace at 25 weeks, six days. He was my miracle baby, an extreme preemie. His weight was 1 pound, 5 ounces, and he was 11 inches long.”
Ally wasn’t the only mom with young kids in her area. Another was Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton.
“Ally and I were in the same Taylorsville neighborhood, and she became one of my dear friends,” Winder Newton said. “We joined with other women in our neighborhood to form a dinner coop, involving four families. Monday through Thursday nights we took turns cooking for all four families. It was a lot of work on your cooking night, but you got the other three nights off.”
Isom said the same families also formed a babysitting co-op. One Friday night each month, three sets of parents dropped their kids at the fourth home. Once they hosted that slumber party one month, each couple had babysitting covered one night, for the next three months.
“The co-ops were great; they really made me feel connected to the neighborhood,” Isom said. “One time we came back to pick up our kids at Aimee’s house, and Kenna was sound asleep in her bathtub.”
“When we were putting all the kids to bed that night, Kenna wanted a quieter place to lie down,” Winder Newton said. “So, I put a bunch of blankets and pillows in the tub, and she snuggled right in.”
Winder Newton would love to see her longtime friend represent Utah in the United States Senate.
“I appreciate the service of Sen. Lee, but told him I would be supporting Ally,” she said. “Ally Isom is a classic conservative Republican who knows how to get things done. She will work hard for Utah and knows how to fight for the things that matter.”
Another high-profile Taylorsville Republican who’s been on both sides of Ally Isom’s political savvy is Utah House District 39 Rep. Jim Dunnigan. In 2001, Isom volunteered on Russ Wall’s race for Taylorsville City Council against Dunnigan. With Ally’s help, Wall won. So, the next year, Dunnigan recruited her to help him win his seat in the state legislature. He’s been in that seat ever since.
“Ally really knows how to get things done, politically,” Dunnigan said. “She was really good for Wall when he beat me for the city council seat. And she was a big help in my House race the following year. She listens; she’s fair; I think very highly of her.”
To this day, Dunnigan has a gift from Isom in his office.
“After we won the [2002 Utah House] race, Ally gave me a plaque with a Lincoln head penny on it,” he said. “The inscription on the plaque reads: ‘As you represent our district in Utah’s House of Representatives, be honest like Abe, remember to trust in God and never forget every penny counts! You’ll do great!’ I have cherished that plaque ever since. Ally is an incredibly competent woman." tending BYU, where they each earned degrees, hers in political science, with a minor in Communication. Their June 1989 wedding came seven years before the move to Taylorsville. That’s when Isom first became involved in politics, helping former Gov. Gary Herbert in his campaign for Utah County Commissioner.
Years later, after the Isom family had moved from Taylorsville to Kaysville, Herbert asked Ally to be his deputy chief of staff in the governor’s office. At that time, Isom had served a year on the Kaysville City Council, after being appointed by the other council members to fill a vacant seat.
“It was a tough decision, because I enjoyed serving on the city council and was planning to run for reelection,” she said.
Isom says she loved working for Herbert. But there was a time when she knew she needed a change.
“It was after our 21-year-old daughter Alyssa suddenly passed away,” she said. “That’s when I realized I needed some time to heal. It’s also when I decided to spend my energies serving and connecting people in meaningful ways.”
Isom went to work for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as one of its directors, working in public affairs and global messaging. Years later, she was recruited to work for a tech startup as acting executive and chief marketing officer.
“I’ve had experience in government, with a worldwide religious nonprofit and in the private sector,” Isom said. “Each of those has prepared me to serve in a unique way.”
Isom’s decision to challenge Lee in the Utah Republican primary came at the same time throngs of President Donald Trump supporters were rampaging through the United States Capitol, 14 months ago.
“On Jan. 4, 5 and 6 last year, three different women in my life reached out to me, separately, to encourage me to challenge Mike Lee,” she said. “When I saw our nation under attack on Jan. 6, I wondered how did we get to this place? How can there be so many marginalized people? It feels to me like the incumbent is adding fuel to the flames. I want my party back. I want my country back.”
Isom and her volunteers are now working to gather 28,000 petition signatures from registered Utah Republicans before April 8, in order to get her name on the June 28 primary election ballot. Lee and at least one other Republican challenger, former state lawmaker Becky Edwards, are doing likewise. If a Utah Republican signs petitions for two of them, only the first candidate to turn that signature in to election officials gets to count it.
Isom, Lee and Edwards will also each try to gain enough support during the April 23 State Republican Convention to get on the primary ballot through that channel.
For more information about Isom’s campaign, visit allyforutah.com or email the campaign at hello@allyforutah.com.
“I miss living in Taylorsville so much,” the grandmother of five said. “My husband was a [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] bishop for nearly five years, until we moved. We return often for weddings and other activities. There’s not a time when I drive on I-215 past the 47th south exit when I don’t think ‘I should be getting off.’ Our Taylorsville years (1996 to 2006) were a wonderful time in our lives.” l
Back in 2003, when this portrait was taken, U.S. Senate candidate Ally Isom and her family called Taylorsville home. (Courtesy Ally Isom)
