Tiger Talk: Pine River-Backus is a High Reliability School

The Pine River-Backus School District aligns their educational systems with a framework called High Reliability Schools (HRS).

A high-reliability school, by definition, monitors the effectiveness of its educational systems and then responds with modifications if the system is not effective. This framework takes all of the best practices and good work that a school is doing and strengthens it.

The framework is continuously monitoring data and has set actions in place when these systems are not met.

Even though Pine River-Backus Schools has been actively using the HRS framework since 2018, let’s be honest — it isn’t something familiar to most people.

Let’s try explaining it in a different way.

Every effective business has a similar system of operation or a framework in place. If you ask their employees what their reliable business practices are, they may look at you with confusion.

But what if you worded it differently and spoke their business’s language?

If you asked someone who worked in health care: What emergency protocols do you have in place in the event of a fire? Are there additional training opportunities available for your employees? What evidence does your facility have of meeting the state health care regulations?

If you asked someone who worked in the food industry: What emergency protocols do you have in place in the event of a fire? Are there additional training opportunities available for your employees? What evidence does your facility have of meeting the state food regulations?

Each employee in health care or in food service would be able to answer these questions or at least have a basic understanding of these questions — primarily because there is a framework and common language established in each work setting.

Let's try these same questions for the Pine River-Backus School District. What procedures do we have in place in the event of an emergency? (This falls into the area of HRS Level 1.)

Do we provide additional training opportunities for our staff? (This falls into the area of HRS Level 2.)

Do we follow state regulations for student achievement? (This falls into the area of HRS Level 3.)

For any business, having a framework in place does not mean everything is perfect. However, successful businesses monitor the systems they have in place and make changes if they are not working.

In 2019, the PR-B School District achieved Level 1 certification. This winter we achieved Level 2 certification!

What does this mean? It means that our district showcased the current educational systems we have in place, made changes when we didn’t, and explained how we will continue to monitor these systems.

As we continue to monitor and re-monitor previously certified levels and upcoming levels, the HRS framework continues to strengthen our common language and alignment of our educational systems for our entire district.

This may be why the HRS framework is often referred to as our district’s “playbook." Specifically, meaning this is how we successfully do business at PR-B.

Tina Hanneken is the Pine River-Backus School District's High Reliability Schools coordinator.