$30 Million To Be Available
For Schools' Emergency Planning Efforts
The U.S. Departments
of Education and Homeland Security have announced funding to help
school districts improve and strengthen Emergency Response and
Crisis Management Plans.
The funds
will be available in the 2003 budget year, beginning fall 2003. These
funds are earmarked to train school staff, parents and students
in emergency procedures, coordinate response activities with fire,
police, health, and mental health agencies and purchase critical
emergency equipment.
Secretary
of Education Ron Paige and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom
Ridge have proposed an addition $30 million in the 2004 budget
(fall of 2004).
Halleluiah! Secretaries
Paige and Ridge must have heard our pleas.
For districts still developing
their plans, suggested components for a district's/school's emergency
plan can be found at www.ed.gov/emergencyplan.
E. Anne Warren, Spring 2003
"It is too late to plan while you are trying to recover
from an emergency." back
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A Dedication to Unsung
Heroes, Our Colleagues in Education
Nearly
50,000 NYC school students were impacted by the bombing of the
World Trade Center. They were blessed with a group
of educators that did not forget their ultimate priority, the
health and safety of their students. Immediately after
the crisis, entire schools had to be quickly relocated to other
facilities, but these dedicated educators carried on their work
of educating youngsters. Armed with mental health and
crisis response experts from across the nation, they harbored
and nurtured their students through a traumatic year.
All
schools, not only those in the shadow of the World Trade Center,
were affected on Sept. 11, 2001. Our nation's children
watched the horrific events on that day and grappled with a reality
beyond the imagination of a TV production. They struggled
confused as to why our nation was attacked and who did such awful
things.
Our
colleagues, the teachers and administrators, had to console the
grief stricken, explain the unfathomable, reinforce religious
and cultural tolerance and bolster faith in our American way to
the young minds struggling to understand. They, themselves,
had to evaluate safety measures to be taken if such an occurrence
should happen in their community. They were compelled
to suppress their own shock and grief to minister to their students.
School
year 2002- 2003 brings many new challenges to all educators. The
approaching anniversary of 9/11 with its possibility of reliving
horrors, recapturing lost academic ground as a result of the trauma
and moving the students forward along their individual learning
programs.
To
you, our colleagues, we say we are with you. We will
share the recovery process and together we will share the rewards
- a nation's children firm in their resolve to support our nations
values that of every American's rights and dreams.
E. Anne Warren, Sept. 2002
To read another view of 9/11 educator challenges, read Linda Starr's,
Starr Points, "When Terrorism Is the Teacher".
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues196.shtml
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SARS In A Canadian School,
A One-Shot Deal Or The Tip Of The Iceberg!
“SARS at Toronto school quarantines 1600”
San Francisco Chronicle, May 29, 2003.
The article states how the growing
numbers of affected students at Father Michael McGivney Catholic
Academy caused school officials to close school and have all students
quarantined at home until the following week.
This is a one-school setting. However,
in a multi-school environment where students and their siblings
attend other schools, the exposure factor could multiply exponentially.
Immediate exposure would be to children,
site staff and multi-site resource staff such as therapists, technicians
and maintenance staff.
Health care staff will be inundated;
district administrators will grapple with recommendations to close
entire schools. District and community Public Information Officers
will be forced to educate parents on the issues and calm fears
and mobilize the general public to action. A full-blown crisis
has emerged.
Where is the District’s emergency
plan; its emergency management team; and Liaison with community
public safety resources? Where is the status reporting structure
to facilitate the Superintendent’s and jurisdictional policy
decisions? If need be, where is the mechanism for the District
to declare an emergency? Where is the advance planning on when
and how to reopen schools?
The written Emergency Response Plan
provides that and gives the District procedures, response priorities,
emergency management team structure and tools to effectively manage
the crisis.
Every district, every school needs
an Emergency/Crisis Response Plan. Not just a list of procedures
to carry out when an event occurs, but also a structure that illustrates
how the district/school will implement this plan, recover from
the crisis and return to normalcy.
Without it, it’s like ”Goin’
fishin’ with a shotgun”.
It’s too late to plan while you
are recovering from an emergency.
$38 Million DOE Grant Funds
Announced 5/16/03
www.ed.gov/GrantApps/#84.184E
School Districts have until June
30 to apply for these funds to improve and strengthen Emergency
Response and Crisis Management Plans. The funding is to be used
over 18 months,
This is an opportunity to insure
the integration of a District’s emergency response actions
with that of their local emergency response agencies, and also
creates possibilities to realign existing law enforcement, health
department, etc., protocols to meet the education community’s
priorities. Chances to test all agencies’ plans together
and validate their integration and alignment that has long been
needed with appropriate support funds.
It is anticipated that only about
150 districts will receive grants. We certainly hope that additional
funds are released soon for more communities to benefit. The need
is great.
E. Anne Warren, June
2003
