District Administration - June 2007 - (Page 88)

PROFESSIONAL OPINION • Scott & Donna Poland Safe School Preparations for Your District Here are critical activities to update your crisis response plans. P renovations, room number changes, locations of ﬁre extinguishers, staﬀ trained for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, and evacuation routes with reuniﬁcation areas. Prepare an evacuation location. Establish contact names, phone numbers and facility ﬂoor plans, and make a plan for distributing students, staﬀ and incident command members within the facility. Update health awareness lists. Identify students and staﬀ with health requirements such as special respiratory, diabetic and bathroom needs. Update parent e-mail addresses. Prepare templates of letters to parents that depict various security scenarios, as guides for constructing real messages when needed. Prepare a security-training schedule for Preparing for the Inevitable parents, students and staﬀ. If you work as a K12 administrator for an Review behavior incidents of the Train staﬀ before the ﬁrst day of school, extended period of time, it is almost cer- previous year. train students immediately upon entering tain that you will experience a tragedy that What were the major issues? Did the teach- the building, and share plans with parents will impact your staﬀ and students. It may er and administrative interventions work? at orientations and parent events. be a death, serious injury, natural disaster, If not, what changes should be made? Contact emergency service and hospital weather related incident, or event initiated Replenish crisis response materials and personnel. review procedures: by an intruder. Make sure that an emergency isn’t the ﬁrst Therefore, as we approach another 1. Review your written school safety plan time they get to know you! DA summer and will soon prepare for the next and update it with accurate personnel data, school year, it is essential that every district phone trees, procedures for each incident, Scott Poland is chair of the National Emergendevote time and eﬀort to review, revise ﬂoor plans, etc. Print copies for your staﬀ cy Assistance Team for the National Association of School Psychologists and a faculty member at and articulate crisis response plans. Here and outside responders. Nova Southeastern University. Note: Scott Po2. Replace batteries in ﬂashlights for all land is a presenter in the EduComm Leaderare critical activities: ship Series one-day seminar “New Paths to staﬀ members. Convene a school safety committee. A representative group of parents, staﬀ and 3. Upgrade or refurbish walkie-talkies, School Safety and Security” in Framingham, students should review the school climate weather radios, megaphones, PA systems, Mass., October 2 and in Tarrytown, N.Y., October 3. Online registration opens July 16 and current safety procedures. Ask for alarms, emergency lighting, and lockdown (www.districtadministration.com). recommendations and revise policies and capabilities. Donna Poland is the director of the Upper Uni4. Update existing ﬂoor plans to reﬂect versity School at Nova Southeastern University. procedures accordingly. ICTURE THE LAST DAY OF summer in your school district, the day before the teachers return. You have worked to ﬁnalize the master schedule, plan a meaningful staﬀ development program, and ensure an eﬃcient registration and orientation process. You’re all ready for school, until a teacher calls to say that one of your students died by suicide the night before. In an instant you are no longer thinking of inventories, textbook supplies, schedules, or lunch and bus services. But you also ﬁnd yourself thankful that a good portion of your summer was devoted to school safety, security and crisis response. You are stricken with grief for the student and family, and dreading the response in the school community, but still in control because you have a speciﬁc plan you can implement. It is almost certain that a tragedy will impact your staﬀ and students. 88 June 2007 District Administration http://www.districtadministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - June 2007

Contents
Editor's Letter
Letters
News Update
Security Update
Technology Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
Admistrator Profile
District Profile
Refreshing the ISTE Technology Standards
Action Teams
RE-Construction
Professional Development for the New Century
Multimedia LIT
New Products
Leadership Books
Problem/Solution
Online Edge
Speaking Out
Supervisor's Opinion
Professional Opinion
Research Corner
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - June 2007