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Day two

tool icon Provide meeting place for staff. Determine a safe location for staff to meet informally and as a group. Hold a morning debriefing with first responders, school administration and district officials. Provide mental health support. Assure there are sufficient food, healthful snacks and beverages. Talk to staff about their rights with the media. Click here for sample. Practice active listening, allowing staff to vent and be heard in a safe, caring environment.

Designate a drop-in location for students and families. Offer mental health support and provide food and beverages. Give regular updates on activities and events. Arrange for child care.

Attend to families of victims. Assign a district liaison to work with the families and offer mental health support as well as assessing other needs, such as seeking local accommodations for close family members who must fly in for funeral services. Publicize funeral arrangements. Check condition of hospitalized victims.

  tool icon Take care of other schools in the district. Determine whether mental health support or additional security is needed at other schools. Provide ongoing updates. Watch for copycat incidents and work with the media to prevent them. Click here to download a letter to media.

Consider facility and operational issues. Work with the district insurance company and facilities staff on repairs.

Identify a restart date for school. Consult with law enforcement, health/mental health officials and facilities staff about when school can resume.

Set up long-term communications channels that can be used as long as necessary depending on the crisis and its aftermath such as:

  • An emergency Web site, linked to the district homepage, with regular updates and links to resources for parents and staff, such as signs of post-traumatic stress, how to talk to your child about trauma, etc.
  • An email group list to stakeholders who must be reached regularly, such as staff, media and elected officials.
  • Voice mail messages at school and district offices to provide the latest information. The messages should be updated daily and include information about school activities, memorials, funerals and donations.

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  • A letter or email to parents at the affected school and other schools in district providing them with information and resources. Click here to download a sample.
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  • FAQs. Develop an ongoing list of frequently asked questions and answers that can be distributed to media and put on the crisis Web site. Click here to download a sample.

Revise media protocols as necessary. Determine what information the media need based on monitoring of print and broadcast coverage. Make decisions regarding ongoing press briefings: Who will be the lead agency, how often, location, spokesperson, other speakers, etc. Discuss the need for a joint information center with the other involved agencies. Ensure key media, such as local reporters, are receiving regular press releases and fact sheets. Look for positive stories to share with the media to promote healing.

  tool icon Assign volunteer responsibilities. A staff volunteer coordinator can screen volunteers and assign them to appropriate duties: staffing hotlines/phone banks, answering media calls that focus on facts as opposed to opinion, monitoring the media, providing food, accepting donations, writing thank-you notes, etc. Volunteers must be trained with accurate, updated information. Click here for volunteer information. Provide volunteers with color-coded sheets for message taking and media requests. Click here to download a sample media request for interview form. Click here to download a sample media request for information form.

Develop systems for accepting donations. People will want to make cash donations and donations of goods and services. It’s important to check state laws and local regulations before accepting donations and to keep good records and be accountable for these donations. Tasks include:

  • Set up a bookkeeping system to track financial donations — where they are coming from, if the donor has a specific use in mind, etc.
  • Develop a process for cataloging and storing cards, letters and gifts.
  • Assign volunteers to write thank-you notes for donations.
  • Be aware of special funds that interested individuals and victims’ families may set up.
  • Work with organizations that want to set up fundraisers to ensure the activities are appropriate and the funds are being collected and distributed in an accountable manner.

Coordinate efforts with other agencies to determine jurisdictional issues, such as who is in charge of a building — is it a crime scene? Who makes decisions about when the building can be repaired and reopened? Who releases information about victims, perpetrators, etc. Key tasks:

  • Decide when visitors can enter the building. The governor or other elected officials often want to tour the building.

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  • Determine who will plan memorial events and activities. Click here for advice on managing memorials. Click here for issues regarding permanent memorials.
  • Make a list of all key agencies and determine communications channels. Agencies include:
    • NEA, state and local teacher associations
    • Local, state and federal law enforcement as well as emergency management agencies
    • Fire and rescue agencies
    • American Red Cross
    • Hospitals
    • Local, state and federal mental health providers, including National Organization of Victims Assistance
    • Local and state elected officials, including governor, legislators, city council and county commissioners
    • Federal government agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and Department of Education