School Safety

Components of Crisis Management

The Oxford School District (OSD) considers the following four (4) components of crisis management.

1. Prevention
2. Preparedness
3. Response
4. Recovery

Each component will be discussed below.

Prevention:

The Oxford School District understands the value of being prepared, ready to respond appropriately, and recovering. However, we are also focused on taking all necessary steps to prevent crises when possible. Each step is provided below:

1. Provide a safe, welcoming, supportive, and inclusive environment in all schools.
2. Teach and reinforce social-emotional and life skills.
3. Build social competence and school connectedness.
4. Provide students with opportunities for meaningful participation.
5. Help students develop a sense of purpose and future.
6. Utilize schoolwide behavior and intervention supports.
7. Practice early identification and interventions.
8. Report student mental health concerns.
9. Provide adequate training for employees.

Preparedness:

Any plans developed for the school will follow a basic theme: Simplicity and Flexibility. Each crisis will be different therefore the plans to deal with the crisis need to be simple for the staff and students to follow but flexible enough to be modified ‘on the run’ to fit any situation.

The Safety Director, SRO and Building Principal will identify and rehearse:

1. What crisis plans exist in the district, school and community.
2. All stakeholders involved in crisis planning.
3. Procedures for communicating with staff, students, family and media.
4. Procedures for accounting for students during a crisis.
5. Information about school facilities and the locations of street maps, building floor plans and utility shutoffs.
6. Equipment necessary to assist the staff in a crisis.

Response:

1. Identify if a crisis is occurring.
2. Identify the type of crisis.
3. Activate the Crisis Response Team
4. Determine if an evacuation, reverse evacuation, lockdown, or shelter-in-place needs to be implemented.
5. Maintain communications among all relevant staff at officially designated locations.
6. Establish the information to be communicated to staff, students, families, and the media.
7. Monitor emergency first aid.
8. Decide if more equipment or supplies are needed.

Recovery:

1. Return to learning as quickly as possible
2. Restore physical plant
3. Monitor how staff members are assessing students for emotional impact of the crisis.
4. Identify what follow-up interventions are available to students, staff and first responders
5. Conduct debriefing with staff and first responders
6. Allocate appropriate time for recovery
7. Capture lessons learned. Incorporate them into revisions of plans and training.