- School district superintendent or senior administrator
- School district safety and security director
- School district communications director
- School district department directors
- Student services — psychologist, social worker, nurse, counselor, etc.
- Technology
- Transportation
- Food services
- Facility use and maintenance
- Risk management/legal counsel
- Human resources
- Community mental health agency representative
- Community victim assistance representative
- Public safety officers
- NEA local association representative
Responsibilities — prepare for a crisis
- Create the district-level emergency preparedness and crisis response plan — a written document that spells out a school district’s safety policies and instructions for handling emergencies and crises and for supporting staff, students and families. Click here for elements of a district-level emergency preparedness and crisis response plan.
- Prepare guidelines for individual school crisis response plans and oversee the implementation of individual school crisis response plans.
Click here for elements of a school crisis response plan.
Click here for sample plans. - Arrange training for school crisis response teams, including mock training exercises. Make sure practices are appropriate for the development level and emotional needs of students.
- Establish connections with community experts and local emergency responders such as counseling agencies, hospital personnel, law enforcement officials, fire departments, media outlets, etc. and maintain corresponding contact information.
- Build a central library of materials on emergency preparedness and crisis response.
- Gather equipment and supplies. Click here for a list.
- Identify key staff to review and approve school crisis response plans.
- Ensure public safety agencies receive copies of district/school crisis response plans.
Responsibilities — respond to a crisis
- Provide school crisis response teams with support and backup during a crisis, and dispatch resources to schools as necessary.
- Stay in contact with leaders of emergency responders.
- Manage the release of information. Verify factual information, authorize the release of information to the public and coordinate communications with the public and media.
- Report immediately to evacuation sites or hospitals if students or staff are being sent there.
- Meet and talk with parents of students and spouses of school staff, if necessary.
- Authorize the purchase of services or materials needed for recovery after a crisis.
- Evaluate the crisis response with an after-action report to the superintendent and a plan for follow-up.