Schools and school systems have always provided cornerstone services since the beginning of our education system as we know it. Students come to school to learn the basics, advancing into programs of study of interest to them, all the while being helped along the way by teachers, administrators, and other faculty and staff. Throughout history in education, there have been, to some extent, crises that have interrupted the routines of school life.
However, threats to children’s safety and well-being have become increasingly common. Today, in 2023 and soon to start the new year in 2024, schools are increasingly under pressure to maintain and provide safe and orderly operations that keep students, faculty, and staff safe. These important operations are housed under the umbrella of school safety, with many schools and districts operating on a standard crisis plan that all employees are trained on and understand.
Why a School Crisis Plan is Essential
Routines are critical. John Wooden, one of the most famous and successful basketball coaches in history at UCLA, taught his players the same daily routines, including how to put their socks on to prevent blisters and properly tie their shoes to prevent ankle injuries. Wooden knew that these small, and seemingly insignificant details would actually avoid a major issue down the road.
For teachers, successful classrooms practice and maintain the same routines and procedures daily, illustrating for students what to do during their daily class interactions. Along these lines, on a much larger school level, a school crisis plan is designed to minimize loss or injury to anyone at the school and can include several different components, all serving as vital pieces to the overall success of the plan.
Important Components of a School Crisis Plan
All schools and school districts or systems will have statements about “providing a safe and secure learning environment” somewhere either in the mission, vision, or district goals and initiatives. Student safety is a paramount cornerstone for schools today, particularly due to the increasing and alarming rates of gun violence and school shootings that happen almost daily. School crisis plans are designed to assist school staff in preparing for emergencies, managing emergency response efforts, and maintaining a safe school environment.
Guidelines within the school crisis plan are designed to handle routine day-to-day classroom and school situations, with more detailed components embedded in case of serious problems where outside agencies such as media, law enforcement, or others are involved. Regardless of location, schools and/or districts or systems will have the same core components in their crisis plan.
Emergency Drills
Emergency drills are proactive measures that prepare staff/students for potential emergency situations. Emergency drills range from medical to intruder. Tornado, fire, AED, medical response, armed intruder, lockdown, evacuation, and evacuation off-site are all examples of emergency school drills. All emergency drills need to be practiced in a variety of scenarios.
A fire drill may occur while all students/staff are seated in a second period class or may occur during a lunch period when half of your school is at lunch. An armed intruder drill may occur in the middle of sixth period or in the middle of a class change.
There are numerous scenarios in which an emergency may occur. Practicing with students/staff through drills in a variety of ways will better equip a school for emergencies. Emergency drills may be pre-planned, but spontaneous emergency drills give schools a good look at components they are doing well/need improvement as the drills are unexpected.
First Responders (police department, 911, fire department, EMS, etc.) are important as well to be involved during emergencies as they may provide school/threat assessments during drills (SchoolSafety, 2021). This gives schools a different perspective from outside eyes that helps make schools safer. Emergency drills and school plans are prepared for all staff/students, but individual crisis plans are part of school plans to prepare for individual needs.
Individual Safety/Action Plans
Individual safety/action plans are for individuals in a school that need potential emergency action whether being a student or a staff member. Safety plans may be for medical reasons (which is referred to as an individualized health plan or IHP) or other emergency situations.
These other emergency situations often include scenarios involving other people, such as a parent or person that has a no-contact order with a student. These plans are often documented in a student’s records and/or Education Informational System (EIS) database. This enables those individuals that need to know, such as school administration, front office personnel, school counselor, teachers, et cetera, to have the information needed and to implement it.
Individual safety plans may also be implemented between students whether deriving from incidents occurring inside of school or outside. Individual safety plans may be set for victims of conflicts and the perpetrators. Some aspects of safety plans between two students may include different class schedules, different lunch periods, specific seating during assemblies/activities, and go to staff for the students to talk to if needed. These staff members would be chosen by each of the students.
First, a crisis response team needs to be established. Although the titles may vary depending on location, these personnel are generally the same. In the crisis response team, “incident commanders” can include the principal, assistant principal, and any other designee the principal identifies. Another key member is the school resource officer, who connects school safety updates to outside law enforcement agencies.
Facilities/Maintenance Coordinator
Next, a “facilities/maintenance coordinator” provides vital information regarding gas, power, and other important shut-offs in case of a chemical emergency. This can typically be a lead custodian or assistant principal over operations or building and grounds.
First Aid Coordinator
Next is the school nurse, who serves as “first aid coordinator” and helps triage immediate health needs, determining if EMS supports are needed.
Counseling Coordinator
Next, “counseling coordinator” can be the director of guidance, serving as the source of information for student schedules and locations in case of loss of power or moving students to a reunification site.
Communications Director
Finally, a “communications director” is one of the most critical components. In this age of social media and instant information, a flood of calls and information will be flowing that is simply unavoidable. This person, most likely a lead secretary or receptionist, is trained to direct calls regarding the reunification site, if students are being moved off-campus, or providing succinct and quick updates to parents.
Crisis Response Team Duties
Once the team is established, typically during the summer planning months, this team also provides the training to all teachers and other staff about crisis response in general. This includes details on various emergency drills that are practiced monthly, including fire drills, and quarterly drills such as earthquake, tornado, and bomb threat procedures. For example, in the state of South Carolina, fire drills are mandatory to be conducted each month.
Additionally, a list is compiled and maintained of which faculty and staff are CPR certified and which staff have their Commercial Driver’s License, meaning they can operate a school bus in the case of reunification. In terms of reunification, many schools and school districts have alternate sites available in their district or community if a school has to be evacuated. These alternate sites are known as reunification sites and have their own set of procedures and crisis plans that accompany it.
Schools today face an alarming increase of threats, both inside the school and out. A well-versed, practiced, and standard crisis plan can serve two main priorities, one being to preserve lives and prevent injuries, and the second being to notify school members, community members, and law enforcement.
Regardless of your location and the name of the members of the response team, the overall goal is to be as prepared as possible for when disaster strikes. The idea of practicing and making the crisis plan an important part of your school culture and plan is similar to training beliefs from the Navy Seals, who believe that, “when under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training, which is why they train so hard.”
Although no school official or school or community wants to experience a mass casualty or crisis event, the success of what happens afterwards is solely dependent on how well each person in the school is trained and prepared for the moment. The establishment of a school crisis plan with identified roles and members, and consistent plans for routines, practice, and implementation are critical to the success of a school when disaster strikes.
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References
(2021). Foundational elements of school safety. School Safety.
Virginia Department of Education (2002). Model school crisis management plan. Division of Special Education and Student Services.
Updated January 2024
