An emergency could, of course, occur at any time of the day or night. It could happen during hours when your children are in school. Because of this possibility, county officials, in close consultation with safety experts from New York State, other counties, and school districts, have worked out careful plans for relocating school children in a potential emergency.

At the first indication of a potential problem at the plant, emergency officials might decide to relocate schoolchildren as a precaution. The children would be taken with their teachers by bus to School Reception Centers located outside the Emergency Planning Zone. The School Reception Centers provide temporary care for children awaiting pick-up by parents. Children who are relocated to School Reception Centers will be registered and will stay there, under the care of school officials and daycare providers, until parents can pick them up.

Find out which reception center is designated for your child's school.

New York State Education Department requires that school staff be trained to put emergency plans for relocation into action should they be needed. Many schools have plans in place to allow parents to pick up their children before they are taken to a School Reception Center. Check with the principal at your children’s schools.

Relocation is a precautionary action. The county executive would make the decision to relocate schoolchildren relatively quickly in order to get schoolchildren safely out of the way of any potential danger.