Families trust schools to keep their children safe during the day.
Thanks to the efforts of millions of teachers, principals, and
staff across America, the majority of schools remain safe havens
for our nation's youth. The unfortunate reality is, however, that
school districts in this country may be touched either directly or
indirectly by a crisis of some kind at any time. Natural disasters
such as floods, earthquakes, fires, and tornadoes can strike a
community with little or no warning. An influenza pandemic, or
other infectious disease, can spread from person-to-person causing
serious illness across the country, or around the globe, in a very
short time. School shootings, threatened or actual, are extremely
rare but are horrific and chilling when they occur. The harrowing
events of September 11 and subsequent anthrax scares have ushered
in a new age of terrorism. Communities across the country are
struggling to understand and avert acts of terror. Children and
youth rely on and find great comfort in the adults who protect
them. Teachers and staff must know how to help their students
through a crisis and return them home safely. Knowing what to do
when faced with a crisis can be the difference between calm and
chaos, between courage and fear, between life and death. There are
thousands of fires in schools every year, yet there is minimal
damage to life and property because staff and students are
prepared. This preparedness needs to be extended to all risks
schools face. Schools and districts need to be ready to handle
crises, large and small, to keep our children and staff out of
harm's way and ready to learn and teach. Taking action now can save
lives, prevent injury, and minimize property damage in the moments
of a crisis. The importance of reviewing and revising school and
district plans cannot be underscored enough, and Practical
Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities
is designed to help you navigate this process. The Guide is
intended to give schools, districts, and communities the critical
concepts and components of good crisis planning, stimulate thinking
about the crisis preparedness process, and provide examples of
promising practices. This document does not provide a cookbook
approach to crisis preparedness. Each community has its own
history, culture, and way of doing business. Schools and districts
are at risk for different types of crises and have their own
definitions of what constitutes a crisis. Crisis plans need to be
customized to communities, districts, and schools to meet the
unique needs of local residents and students. Crisis plans also
need to address state and local school safety laws. Experts
recommend against cutting and pasting plans from other schools and
districts. Other plans can serve as useful models, but what is
effective for a large innercity school district where the
population is concentrated may be ineffective for a rural community
where schools and first responders are far apart.
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