In today’s educational landscape, effective crisis response in schools is more crucial than ever. Schools are meant to be safe havens for students, but unfortunately, crises—ranging from natural disasters to acts of violence—can and do occur. How a school community responds to these events can significantly affect the recovery and well-being of its students, staff, and families.
In 15-Minute Focus: School-Based Crisis Response, author Michelle Sircy equips educators, counselors, and administrators with the tools to understand, prepare for, and recover from crisis events.
Below, you will find an excerpt from this comprehensive and strategy-packed book.
Schools must be prepared to handle a wide array of crises, reflecting the diverse challenges faced by the communities they serve. These crises can range from natural disasters, such as tornadoes and earthquakes, to incidents of violence, including school shootings and physical assaults. Accidents, health emergencies, and community crises further complicate the landscape of potential impactful occurrences. Understanding these common types of crises is essential for school leaders, as it enables them to build a foundation for effective response strategies and better manage unexpected events. To summarize, the type of school crises each school must be prepared for are:
Schools face a wide range of potential emergencies. Effective crisis preparedness requires a comprehensive approach that addresses every stage of an emergency, from prevention to recovery. According to FEMA, the Five Mission Areas of Crisis Preparedness—Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery—offer a structured framework to guide schools in building resilience and ensuring the safety of their students, staff, and communities. These mission areas are integral to frameworks such as the PREPaRE model and the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs), aligning with standards set by the US Departments of Education, Homeland Security, and FEMA.
By embracing the Five Mission Areas—Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery—schools can be prepared for a crisis by creating a cohesive and proactive approach. These mission areas are not stand-alone steps but interconnected parts of a continuous process aimed at fostering safety, resilience, and recovery.
School responders require a comprehensive crisis-response plan to ensure the safety and well-being of students, staff, and the broader school community. This plan should include a tiered support system, similar to Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), to address the varying needs of individuals affected by a crisis. Tier 1 interventions provide universal support, Tier 2 offers targeted help for those needing more focused assistance, and Tier 3 delivers intensive support and referral for trauma-informed therapeutic supports for those with the most severe needs. Such a model ensures that the school community receives appropriate care and support during and after a crisis.
Legal and ethical considerations are critical components of any crisis-response plan. Schools must adhere to laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and at times the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect the confidentiality and privacy of students and staff. Additionally, school leaders have a duty of care to provide a safe environment and must ensure equitable resource allocation and culturally sensitive support. Schools can create a structured and efficient approach to responding to crises, promoting safety, and fostering resilience within their communities by developing a coordinated crisis-response plan that addresses these legal and ethical issues.
A well-structured crisis plan provides a clear framework for responding to various types of emergencies, enabling school leaders and staff to act quickly and effectively. Having a coordinated crisis-response plan created by a comprehensive cross-disciplinary team alleviates the burden on individual school leaders. It allows a group of professionals to collaboratively develop a plan that will guide the school during a crisis.
By utilizing the strategies described in 15-Minute Focus: School-Based Crisis Response, your school will be prepared for a crisis.
Written by Michelle Sircy.
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