I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to act as a guide for the Moorhead Area Public Schools, administrators, school employees, students, school board members, and community members to address a wide range of potential crisis situations in the school district.
II. GENERAL INFORMATION
A. Policy and Plans
Moorhead Area Public School District's Crisis Management Policy is a guide to development of an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). The EOP has been created in consultation with local community response agencies and other appropriate individuals and groups likely to be involved in the event of a school emergency.
The school district administration and/or the administration of each building will develop a site-specific emergency response plan and provide a copy to the District Emergency Response Team. The EOP will be provided to the School Board for review and approval. The policy and plans will be maintained and updated on an annual basis.
B. Elements of the District Crisis Emergency Procedure Manual
1. General Crisis Procedures. Additionally, the EOP will outline general crisis procedures for securing the building, classroom evacuation, building evacuation, campus evacuation, and sheltering. The EOP designates the individual(s) who will determine when these actions will be taken. These district-wide procedures may be modified by building administrators, in consultation with the District Emergency Planning Team, when creating their building-specific crisis management plans.
All general crisis procedures will address specific procedures for the safe evacuation of children and employees with special needs such as physical, sensory, motor, developmental, and mental health challenges.
a. Lock-Down Procedures. Lock-down procedures will be used in situations where harm may result to persons inside the school building.
b. Evacuation Procedures. Evacuation procedures are used when there is a greater risk inside the building than outside the building.
c. Sheltering Procedures. Sheltering provides refuge for students, staff, and visitors within the school building during an emergency.
2. Crisis-Specific Procedures. When appropriate the EOP shall have crisis-specific procedures. Examples include gas leaks, cyber threats, hazardous material, floods, winter weather, etc.
3. District and Building Emergency Response Teams (DERT and BERT).
a. Composition. The building administrator in each school building will select a school emergency response team that will be trained to respond to emergency situations. All DERT and BERT members will receive ongoing training including drills to carry out the building’s crisis management plans and will have knowledge of procedures, evacuation routes, and safe areas. Team members must be willing to be actively involved in the resolution of crises and be available to assist in any crisis situation as deemed necessary by the building administrator. Each building will maintain a current list of school emergency response team members which will be updated annually. The building administrator, and his or her alternative designees, will know the location of that list in the event of a school emergency.
b. Leaders. The building administrator or designee will serve as the Incident Commander. The Incident Commander will be the primary contact for emergency response officials. In the event the primary designee is unavailable, the designee list should include more than one alternate designee and may include members of the emergency response team.
III. PREPARATION BEFORE AN EMERGENCY
A. Communication
1. District Employe
es.
All staff shall be aware of the school district's Crisis Management Policy and Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and their own building’s crisis management plan. Employees will receive a copy of the relevant building-specific emergency response plans and shall receive periodic training on plan implementation.
2. Students and Parents. Students and parents shall be made aware of the school district’s Crisis Management Policy. Students shall receive specific instruction on plan implementation and shall participate in a required number of drills and practice sessions throughout the school year.
B. Planning and Preparing for Fire
1. Designate a safe area at least 50 feet away from the building to enable students and staff to evacuate. The safe area should not interfere with emergency responders or responding vehicles and should not be in an area where evacuated persons are exposed to any products of combustion.
2. Each building’s facility diagram and site plan shall be available in appropriate areas of the building.
3. Staff will receive training on the location of the primary emergency evacuation routes and alternate routes from various points in the building and shall identify the most direct evacuation routes to the designated safe areas both inside and outside of the building. During fire drills, students and staff will practice evacuations using primary evacuation routes and alternate routes.
4. Certain employees, such as those who work in hazardous areas in the building, will receive training on the locations and proper use of fire extinguishers and protective clothing and equipment.
5. Fire drills will be conducted periodically without warning at various times of the day and under different circumstances (e.g., lunchtime, recess, and during assemblies). State law requires a minimum of five (5) fire drills each school year, consistent with Minnesota Statutes section 299F.30. (See Minnesota Statutes section 121A.035.)
6. A record of fire drills conducted at the building will be maintained in the building administrator’s office and in the Mandatory Drill and Incident Recording System on the extranet.
7. The school district will have prearranged sites for emergency sheltering and transportation as needed.
8. The school district will determine which staff will remain in the building to perform essential functions if safe to do so. (e.g., switchboard, building engineer, etc.) The school district also will designate an administrator or his or her designee to meet local fire or law enforcement agents upon their arrival.
C. Facility Diagrams and Site Plans
All school buildings will have a facility diagram and site plan that includes the location of primary and secondary evacuation routes, exits, designated safe areas inside and outside of the building, and the location of fire alarm control panel, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, hoses, water spigots, and utility shut-offs. Facility diagrams must be regularly updated.
D. Emergency Telephone Numbers
Each building will maintain a current list of emergency telephone numbers and the names and addresses of local, county, and state personnel who may be involved in a crisis situation. The list will include telephone numbers for local police, fire, ambulance, hospital, the Poison C
ontrol Center, county and state emergency management agencies, local public works departments, local utility companies, the public health nurse, mental health/suicide hotlines, and county welfare agency. A copy of this list will be kept on file in the school district office or at a secondary location for single building school districts and updated annually.
School district employees will receive training on how to make emergency contacts, including 911 calls, when the school district's main telephone number and location is electronically conveyed to emergency personnel instead of the specific building in need of emergency services.
School district plans will set forth a process to internally communicate an emergency, using telephones in classrooms, intercom systems, or two-way radios, as well as the procedure to enable the staff to rapidly convey emergency information to a building designee.
E. Warning and Notification Systems
The school district shall maintain a warning system designed to inform students, staff and visitors of a crisis or emergency. This system shall be maintained on a regular basis under the maintenance plan for all school buildings. The school district should consider an alternate notification system to address the needs of staff and students with special needs, such as vision or hearing.
F. Early School Closure Procedures
The Superintendent will make decisions about closing schools or buildings as early in the day as possible.
G. Media Policy.
The Superintendent has the authority and discretion for notifying parents and guardians and the school community in the event of a crisis or early school closure. The Superintendent may designate a spokesperson who will notify the media in the event of a crisis or early school closure. The spokesperson shall receive training to ensure that the district is in strict compliance with federal and state law relative to the release of private data when conveying information to the media.
H. Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Procedures
Short-term behavioral health crisis intervention procedures will set forth the procedure for initiating behavioral health crisis intervention plans.
The procedures will utilize available resources including the school psychologist, counselor, community behavioral health crisis intervention, or others in the community. Counseling procedures will be used whenever the superintendent or the building administrator determines it to be necessary, such as after an assault, a hostage situation, shooting, or suicide. The behavioral health crisis intervention procedures shall include the following steps:
1. Administrator will meet with relevant persons, including school psychologists and counselors, to determine the level of intervention needed for students and staff.
2. Designate specific rooms as private counseling areas.
3. Escort siblings and close friends of any victims as well as others in need of emotional support to the counseling areas.
4. Prohibit media from interviewing or questioning students or staff on school grounds.
5. Provide follow-up services to students and staff who receive counseling.
6. Resume normal school routines as soon as possible.
I. Long-Term Recovery Intervention Procedures/Continuity of Operations Procedures
Long-term recovery intervention procedures may involve both short-term and long-term recovery planning:
1. Physical/structural recovery.
2. Fiscal recovery.
3. Academic recovery.
4. Social/emotional recovery.
IV. MISCELLANEOUS PROCEDURES
A. Chemical Accidents
Procedures for reporting chemical accidents shall be posted at key locations such as chemistry labs, art rooms, swimming pool areas, and janitorial closets. School Buildings must maintain Material Safety Data Sheets (M.S.D.S.) for all chemicals on campus.
B. Visitors
The school district shall implement procedures mandating visitor sign-in and visitors in school buildings. The school district shall implement procedures to minimize outside entry into school buildings except at designated check-in points and assure that all doors are locked prior to and after regular building hours.
C. Student Victims of Criminal Offenses at or on School Property
The school district shall establish procedures allowing student victims of criminal offenses on school property the opportunity to transfer to another school within the school district.
Legal References:
Minn. Stat. Ch. 12 (Emergency Management)
Minn. Stat. Ch. 12A (Natural Disaster; State Assistance)
Minn. Stat. 121A.06 (Reports of Dangerous Weapon Incidents in School Zones)
Minn. Stat. 121A.035 (Crisis Management Policy)
Minn. Stat. 299F.30 (Fire Drill in School; Doors and Exits)
Minn. Stat. 326B.02, Subd. 6 (Powers)
Minn. Stat. 326B.106 (General Powers of Commissioner of Labor and Industry)
Minn. Stat. 609.605, Subd. 4 (Trespasses on School Property)
Minn. Rules Part 7511 (Fire Code)
20 U.S.C. 1681, et seq. (Title IX)
20 U.S.C. 6301, et seq. (Every Student Succeeds Act)
20 U.S.C. 7912 (Unsafe School Choice Option)
42 U.S.C. 5121, et seq. (Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance)
Cross References:
Moorhead School Board Policy 424: Employee Right to Know - Exposure to Hazardous Substances)
Moorhead School Board Policy 409: Prohibition of Harassment and Violence
Moorhead School Board Policy 501: Moorhead Area Public School District Weapons Policy
Moorhead School Board Policy 551: Student Discipline
Moorhead School Board Policy 554: Use of Peace Officers and Crisis Teams to Remove Students with IEPs from School Grounds
Moorhead School Board Policy 905: Visitors to Moorhead Area Public School Buildings and Sites
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/sfm/documents/2011comprehensiveschoolsafetyguide.pdf
Cass-Clay Unified School Response Emergency Operations Plan, template, January, 2015 ver.
http://www.casscountynd.gov/county/depts/sheriff/CCUSR/pages/
Moorhead Area Public Schools Resolution to adopt the National Incident Management System as the standard for incident management at Moorhead Area Public Schools, Nov. 19, 2013
MSBA/MASA Model Policy 806 (Crisis Management Policy)