Lessons from the Field - High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans Build School Emergency Preparedness Capacity

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center, and the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) invite you to join our next webinar: High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans Build School Emergency Preparedness Capacity.

Emergency preparedness involves continually building capacity in the five National Preparedness System mission areas of prevention, mitigation, protection, response, and recovery as well as promoting continuity and resilience. While schools are not traditional emergency response organizations, they are required to prepare for, respond to, and recover from school- and community-based incidents, including active shooter situations. In partnership with a collaborative team of multidisciplinary stakeholders, schools must develop comprehensive emergency operations plans (EOPs) that address all settings and times, all teaching and learning settings, and a variety of threat and hazard types, including gun violence.

A school EOP is a living, breathing, and evolving resource that supports schools and their community partners in preparing for emergency incidents. It describes how people—not just students, but also teachers, administrators, staff, and visitors—as well as property will be protected on and off campus. It details who is responsible for carrying out specific actions before, during, and after an emergency; identifies the personnel, equipment, facilities, supplies, and other resources available; and outlines how all actions will be coordinated.  

This webinar offered techniques and strategies that schools can use to continually build and enhance EOPs that address school violence, including gun violence in collaboration with community partners and is the second session in the Preventing and Addressing School Violence including Gun Violence Miniseries. We began with an overview of what to include in school EOPs, including a Gun Violence Annex, and how EOPs and their annexes can be used as emergency preparedness tools. Panelists shared lessons learned and strategies around conducting trauma-informed exercises and drills that offer opportunities to practice courses of action outlined in EOPs and Gun Violence Annexes, and engaging with School Resource Officers and other community-based organizations in efforts to prepare for incidents of violence within the school setting. 

Speakers & Panelists

Moderator: Janelle Hughes, Project Director, REMS TA Center

• Krista Curley, Director, Project Prevent/Mental Health, McAlester Public Schools, Oklahoma
• Kimberly Daubenspeck, School Safety Director, Office of School Safety and Transportation, Tennessee Department of Education 
• Carlton Gerald, Assistant Director, Security and Emergency Operations, Alexandria Public Schools, Virginia 
• Steve McElroy, Director of Security, Westerville City Schools, Ohio
• Zaria Naqvi, Student and Emergency Preparedness Advocate, Maryland  

Webinar Materials

Resources, slides, speaker bios, the webinar recording (available the day after the event), and more will be posted here. 

• Speaker bios
• Slides
• Transcript

Related Resources

• Project Prevent Grant Information

More on the Lessons from the Field Series

To access archived materials from previous webinars and to find out what is coming next, go here.

In Case You Missed It

Download the REMS TA Center's EOP ASSIST software application, which is designed to help schools create and update high-quality school emergency operations plans. 

Please contact NCSSLE if you have any questions.