Introduction & OverviewFY06 ERCM Initial Grantee MeetingDecember 7, 2006, San Antonio, TX

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools400 Maryland Avenue, SW / Washington, DC 20202

Bill ModzeleskiAssociate Assistant Deputy SecretaryU.S. Department of EducationOffice of Safe and Drug-Free Schools

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Opening Session Agenda• ERCM Initial Grantee Meeting agenda

• Summary of ERCM grant recipients

• Context for creating a safe school environment

• Overview of emergency management for schools and frequently asked questions

• Introduction to the four phases of emergency management

• Available resources

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Agenda: December 7, 2006

8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Welcome, Overview, Introductions of Presenters

8:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Grant Administration

10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Break and Transition to Concurrent Session I

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. Concurrent Session IPrevention & Mitigation (Red Track / Green

Track)  Preparedness, Part I (Blue Track)

12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lunch & Plenary - Repeat ERCM Grantee Panel

2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Break and Transition to Concurrent Session II

2:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Concurrent Session IIGPRA Indicators & Performance Reports (Red Track / Green Track)

  Preparedness, Part II (Blue Track)

3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Dessert Break & Transition to Plenary

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Meet Your Federal Project Officer

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Agenda: December 8, 20067:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m. - 8:10 a.m. Recap of Day 1 and Overview of Day 2

8:10 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:

A Perspective from Mobile County Schools in Alabama

8:50 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Break and Transition to Concurrent Session III

9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Concurrent Session III

Preparedness, Part I (Red & Green Tracks)

  Prevention & Mitigation (Blue Track)

10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.Break and Transition to Concurrent Session IV

10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.Concurrent Session IV

Preparedness, Part II (Red & Green Tracks)

  GPRA Indicators & Performance Reports (Blue Track)

11:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. Lunch & Plenary

National Incident Management System

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Agenda: December 8, 2006 (continued)

12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Concurrent Session V

Response (Red & Green Tracks)

  Recovery (Blue Track)

2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Dessert Break & Transition to Concurrent Session VI

2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Concurrent Session VI

Recovery (Red & Green Tracks)

Response (Blue Track)

3:30 p.m. - 3:40 p.m. Transition to Question & Answer and Wrap-Up

3:40 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Question & Answer and Wrap-Up

4:00 p.m. Adjourn

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ERCM Grant Summary

FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06

Applications received

Over 550 301 406 379

Sites funded

134 109 93 77

Total awarded

$39,324,000

$28,647,801

$30,629,741

$24,174,854

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Historical Overview

• April 1999

• December 2001

• September 2001

• May 2003

• September 2003

• September 2004

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Historical Overview

"An application submitted by a Local Education Agency shall contain an assurance that the applicant has, or the schools to be served have a plan for keeping schools safe and drug-free that includes: "a crisis management plan for responding to violent or traumatic incidents on school grounds Sec. 4114(d)(7)(D)"

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Why should a school have an emergency management plan?

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Why Have a Plan?• 51,000 students hurt on school buses [2001-03]

• 4 million children and adolescents injured at school

• 36,000 chemical exposures in schools [2003]

• 200,000 playground injuries

• 4.2 million youth have asthma attacks [some in schools]

• 738,700 incidents of violent crime in school [2003]

• 154,200 incidents of serious violent crime [2003]

• 21 students homicide victims in school [04-05]

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Figure 1. Number and rate of school-associated homicides among youth ages 5-18: 1992-2005

The most recent data from CDC's School-Associated Violent Death Study (SAVD) are shown in Figure 1. These data are considered preliminary until interviews with law enforcement and School officials are complete. Although the number of homicides to youth ages 5-18 has increased from a low of 11 in 2000/2001 to 21 in 2004/2005, this increase is not statistically significant. Overall, the number of school-associated of youth ages 5-18 has declined since the beginning of the study. Nonetheless, the persistence of the problem and the pattern observed in recent years underscores the ongoing need for comprehensive prevention strategies.

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Why Have a Plan?• Trains / trucks carrying dangerous

chemicals crash near schools.

• Natural disasters occur on regular basis.

• Criminal incidents in community can impact school, e.g., police chase of offenders.

• Plants/factories making chemicals have accidents.

• Students commit suicide outside school on a regular basis.

• Students on trips get into accidents.

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Why Have a Plan?

Basic Statistics:There is ample opportunity for

incidents of all sorts to occur.

53 million students X 180 school days =

about 9.5 billion student school days

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Why Have a Plan?• Emergencies of all shapes and sizes occur

in schools daily

• Emergencies or crises have significant impact on students, faculty, parents, and community:

• Physical

• Emotional

• Educational

• Effective planning will reduce the level of chaos that occurs during an emergency and will enable schools to return to normalcy quicker.

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Why Have a Plan?

Stuff Happensand we better be prepared to deal

with it!

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Don't most schools and school districts already

have emergency management plans?

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Current Status of School Emergency Management

Plans• Most schools and school districts have

emergency management plans; however, the plans are not always:• Comprehensive,• Practiced regularly,• Coordinated with the community,• Always discussed with families, staff, and students,• Based upon sound factual data and circumstances, • Regularly, updated, or • Used!

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What should be included in an

emergency management plan, that is what are the

key elements?

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Key Elements of School Emergency Management

Plans• Goal is for all school districts and schools to have emergency management plans that:• Address all four phases of emergency management• Take an "all hazards" approach• Are developed collaboratively with community

partners • Are based upon sound data and information• Are practiced on a regular basis• Are continually reviewed and updated• Are living documents• Include command structure• Are tailored to conditions of individual schools

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All-Hazards Approach

High Base Rate Incidents

Low Base Rate Incidents

Low Impact High Impact

Bullying Intruders

Minor Accidents Weapons / Guns

Fighting (w/out injury) Assault w/ injury

Automobile Related Issues Homicides

Drug Possession Chemical Accidents

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All-Hazards Approach

• Natural - Earthquakes, tornados, floods

• Technological - Power outages, nearby nuclear plant

• Infrastructure - Roads and bridges, utilities

• Nonstructural - Portable room dividers, bookshelves, suspended ceilings and light fixtures

• Man-made - Hazardous materials release, terrorism

• Biological - Pandemic flu, contaminated food

• Physical wellbeing - broken bones, suicide

• Student culture and climate - bullying, drugs, violent behavior

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Should school districts develop one

emergency management plan

for the entire district?

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District-Wide Plan?

• Plans have to be tailored to needs of individual schools

• Districts should develop overall policy

• Districts should develop a plan for district headquarters

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Are there differences between

an emergency management plan developed for an

urban area, than one for a rural area?

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Urban vs. Rural?

• The plans need to contain the same key elements

• The implementation of the plan will usually be different - quite different

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Who should be involved in planning the

emergency management plan?

The "old" way versus the "new" way.

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Who Should be Involved?

School District

(including teachers, staff, parents,

students)

Public Health

Law Enforcement

Public Safety

Emergency Management

Local Government

Mental Health

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What role should students and parents have in designing the

plan?

What information regarding the plan

should be shared with parents, or students?

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Involving Parents

• What role should parents have in designing the plan?• Parents can provide input on various aspects of emergency

management (e.g., information on where crime is likely to occur)

• Parents can offer feedback on what works and what doesn't (e.g., are drills working, is the method for reporting crime effective?)

• What information should be shared with parents?• School districts should share information which parents

need to have to effectively perform everything required of them in the emergency plan

REMEMBER! Students and parents are our customers! 

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Do we need to conduct a safety

and security needs assessment, if so,

who should conduct it, and what should it

cover?

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Safety and Security Needs Assessment?

• Factors to Consider:• Select tool that fits one's needs and is based on

"some" science/ research

• Ensure that recommendations are practical

• Set priorities and sequencing

• Ensure it's conducted by reliable person or organization

• Do in collaboration with other organizations and school board

• NOTE: May need to supplement with other data, surveys and information

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All this seems costly, is it? Are there things we can

do with little or no additional funds? If so,

what?

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Actions for Little or No Extra Dollars?• Monitor access and egress to buildings

• Know where students are at all times• Use data being collected to develop plan• Collaborate with community partners• Expand drills• Share school plans with partners• Use community resources to help identify

potential problems (e.g., fire and police to help conduct assessments; health departments to provide information on health matters, like pandemic influenza)

• Take advantage of related trainings and materials and build learning into your planning (e.g., threat assessment)

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Should schools and districts be

planning for pandemic influenza?

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Planning for Pandemic Influenza?

• Need to plan for it

• Significant number of faculty and students may get sick

• Schools may have to be shut

• Need to collaborate with State Officials, Health Officials, Law Enforcement, etc.

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Pandemic Influenza Models

www.fcps.edu/emergencyplan

www.mcps.k12md/us/info/emergency/preparedness/index.cfm

www.ed.gov/emergencyplan

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Are there any "lessons learned" that schools and school districts

should be aware of?

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Lessons Learned• Authority for making decisions needs to

be expanded, see "Murphy's Law"

• Staff need to be empowered to make independent decisions

• Incidents drive movement - strike while the iron is hot

• Education leaders may not be in control of what happens in "their" school - work out who is in charge prior to an incident

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Lessons Learned• Redundancy is good, have multiple

evacuation routes, rally points, etc.

• If you place evacuated students in a public place, expect them to be questioned by the Press

• School policies / practices for such matters as when to search a student should be followed regardless of how well a student is known

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Lessons Learned

• Don't forget faculty (in recovery phase)

• Take attendance early in the day, ensure teachers have continued access to it

• Rumors escalate dramatically - deal with them early and don't let them fester

• Do what your trained to do, not what you don't have skills or capacity to do (e.g., distribute food or clothing)

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Lessons Learned• Have a process for entering into contracts

quickly (e.g., Emergency Contracting Authority)

• Prescreen "experts, consultants, outside resources" that can be used during / after crisis

• Agreements with first responders need to be more than "paper agreements" - personal relationships essential

• Physical changes in schools need to be shared with first responders

• Equipment needs to be tested prior to being placed in use, (e.g., interoperability and capabilities in all parts of a school)

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Lessons Learned

• Question qualifications of all outside persons offering assistance [paid or volunteer]

• Know jurisdictions of law enforcement / first responder agencies that provide services

•Don't Assume Anything

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What are the four phases of emergency management?

Prevention & Mitigation Preparedness

ResponseRecovery

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Prevention & Mitigation• Prevention is taking action to decrease the

likelihood than an emergency will occur• Mitigation is taking action to eliminate or

reduce the loss of life and property related to an event(s) that cannot be prevented

• Action steps include:• Know the school building• Know the community• Bring together regional, local and school leaders• Make regular school safety and security efforts part of

Prevention & Mitigation practices• Establish clear lines of communication• Conduct a safety and security needs assessment

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Lessons Learned in Prevention & Mitigation

• Become acquainted with local first responders, community partners and the State emergency management agency in advance of an emergency so they will be familiar with the schools/school staff

• Incorporate lessons learned from previous emergencies and drills when updating emergency plans

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Preparedness• Preparedness is developing policies and

protocols, incident command systems, training, planning, coordination and exercises for potential emergencies

• Action steps include:• Work with community partners to develop appropriate

emergency management policies and procedures• Clarify roles and responsibilities - establish an Incident

Command System• Provide training• Conduct drills and exercises• Obtain necessary equipment and supplies• Prepare for immediate response• Create maps and facilities information• Develop accountability and student release procedures• Address liability issues

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Lessons Learned in Preparedness• Communications will fail - develop

alternative communications strategies in advance

• Predetermine policies for locating staff/teachers following an emergency

• Establish systems offsite for storing registration information and for conducting payroll services

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Response• Response is taking action to effectively contain

and resolve the crisis or emergency• Action steps include:

• Activate the emergency management plan and the Incident Command Team

• Utilize effective decision making - assess the situation and choose appropriate response

• Maintain constant, accurate and appropriate communication with staff, students, families and media

• Triage injuries and provide emergency first aid to those who need it

• Keep supplies nearby and organized at all times• Trust leadership• Activate the student release system• Allow for flexibility in implementing the emergency

management plan• Document actions• Conduct an after-action debriefing

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Lessons Learned in Response• Identify primary and alternate evacuation

sites in case the primary sites are not an option during an emergency

• Move key district resources (for example, buses) out of the disaster area

• Establish a system for distributing, or disposing of, food stored in school facilities if it is a large-scale disaster and the buildings will be evacuated for extended amounts of time

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Recovery• The Recovery phase is designed to assist

students, staff and their families in the healing process and to restore educational operations in schools

• Action steps include:• Plan for recovery in the preparedness phase• Assemble the crisis response team• Return to the "business of learning" as quickly as

possible• Keep students, families, and the media informed• Focus on the building, as well as people, during recovery• Assess emotional needs of staff, students, families, and

responders• Conduct daily debriefings • Remember anniversaries of crises• Evaluate

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Lessons Learned in Recovery• Pre-negotiate contracts for

transportation, food, construction and other district needs

• Provide care for the "care-givers" during and after crisis events

• Implement a system to manage receipt of donations

• Establish locations for storing and strategies for delivering

• Determine what donations will be accepted - for example, gift cards

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Available Resources• U.S. Department of Education's Emergency

Planning Web site• www.ed.gov/emergencyplan

• Emergency Response and Crisis Management Technical Assistance (TA) Center• www.ercm.org

• Emergency Management for Schools Webcast• www.ConnectLive.com/events/edschoolsafety

• Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities

• Emergency Management for Schools Training for Non-Grantees