Plan for emergencies and know how to respond.
Families and communities expect schools to keep their children safe from a range of emergency events, like crime, natural disasters, and accidents. Emergencies can happen at any time, and planning for different emergencies can be challenging for schools.
A key component of emergency planning is creating an Emergency Operations Plan (school EOP), or a document that outlines how a school will prepare, respond, and recover from an emergency. A 2015 survey showed that only 32 of 51 state education departments required school districts to have an Emergency Operations Plan in place.
Every district or school should develop and implement comprehensive school EOPs that describe the actions that students, teachers, and school staff should take before, during, and after emergency events, and everyone should have a common understanding of what will be expected of them. Any reduction of time between the beginning and end of an incident can save lives.
Strategies to Consider
- If you don’t have one, develop a comprehensive school EOP by addressing what happens before, during, and after an incident.
- Form a planning team that includes a wide range of school personnel, like administrators, teachers, and school psychologists. Include community partners.
- Establish a regular time to review, evaluate, and update the school EOP—at least every two years.
- Provide regular training on the school EOP to staff and students.
Featured Resources
These resources are a starting point for learning about emergency planning. Use these resources to support the implementation of emergency planning initiatives at your school.
Guidance
Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans
Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice
This guidance provides information to school administrators on school emergency management planning. It includes a process for developing, implementing, and refining a school Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) with community partners.
Guidance
The Role of Districts in Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans
Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, September 2019
The District Guide serves as a complement to the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (School Guide) and provides information that can assist school districts in fulfilling both their individual and shared emergency planning responsibilities.
Tool
EOP Interactive Tools
Department of Education, 2016
The REMS TA Center offers a suite of emergency management planning tools for school administrators, law enforcement and state officials. The tool can help develop emergency operations plans, conduct site assessments, revise EOPs and align their emergency planning practices with those at the national, state, and local levels.
Guidance
FEMA's Sample School Emergency Operations Plan (for Training Purposes)
Federal Emergency Management Agency
This sample school EOP was developed in accordance with the "Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans." This document has been developed for training purposes only.