SCHOOL SAFETY AND VULNERABILITY

ASSESSMENT PROJECT






























February 2011 Kick-Off Meetings






















Introductions


School Building Authority

Division of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management

Patriot Services Corporation
McKinley and Associates






Project Goal










To improve the safety of every child in West
Virginia while they are at school.
By

identifying, planning for/or mitigating
vulnerabilities and hazards, and improving
response and recovery procedures
By providing first responders easy access to
critical information in the event of an incident
By involving first responder agencies in the
planning process
By establishing a best practice, state-wide
Emergency Response Plan for all schools






The Patriot Team




Our team has decades of experience that will enable us
to build rapport and quickly learn/share valuable
knowledge about schools and the community.
Law Enforcement (Police Chiefs, Undersheriffs, State
Troopers, School Resource Officers, Federal Agents)
Fire/EMS (Fire Chiefs, Fire/EMS instructors and
Firefighters/HAZMAT)
Emergency Management (County, City and State,
LEPC, UASI, PEM, and CEM)
Educators (Teachers, Administrators and Coaches)
Architects specializing in School Facilities
















Agenda

Project Overview

Understanding the Process
Preparing for Assessments

What Principals Should Expect

How Local First Responder Agencies are Involved

What Happens to the Information?

What Next?

Questions & Answers
















Project Overview


Who? What? When? Why? Where?





Who?




This project is funded by the West Virginia
Legislature and is being administered by the
School Building Authority of WV and the WV
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management.






What?









Every West Virginia school will have a
comprehensive school safety and vulnerability
assessment conducted which includes:
Interviews

with key County BOE and School
personnel

Interviews with local law enforcement, fire and
emergency management personnel

Physical site assessments including digital
mapping of school information, photos and floor
plans

Data entry into US DHS secure web-based portal
database (ACAMS) which can be accessed by
authorized personnel during an emergency





More















Project Out Brief including presentation of the
Final Report with Options for Consideration
A state-wide West Virginia School Emergency
Response Plan that will ultimately be implemented
in all schools in all 55 counties. It will be an all-
hazard, best practices approach, compliant with:

National Incident Management System (NIMS)
Incident Command System (ICS)
National Response Framework (NRF)
Coordinated with the WVDHSEM

Up to date MOUs and Mutual Aid
Agreements





Why?


























The safety and security of children are a top
priority.

They are the future and it is critical that we
ensure they are especially safe when they are
in the care of our schools.

A safe and secure environment best
promotes





When and Where?





























This project begins here and now!
We tested and improved the process at Cabell
County Schools. Be sure to thank them.

During the remainder of this school year and
next school year, the Assessment activities
and all reports will all be complete.

Every School will have new Emergency
Response Plans no later than the 2012/2013
school year, possibly as early as next year.














Understanding the Process


Preparing



for Assessments

What to Expect

How Local First Responder Agencies are Involved?

What Happens to the Information?






Preparing for Assessments









Superintendents Kick Off Meeting
There is no score or grading system of any kind
associated with the assessments.

There is no specific answer anyone is looking for.
If something is found that requires immediate
attention, the appropriate person(s) at the County
Board of Education Office and/or School
Principals will be notified
Cooperation and participation will earn



Preparing for Assessments: What
you can do!






Gather Information:
County

School Emergency Response Plan
Memorandums of Understanding or Mutual Aid
Agreements (if any)

Other policies/procedures or practices related to
school safety or security.


Preparing for Assessments:
Counties
























Schedule a time for Sheila Diaz at Patriot
Services to meet with you and/or your County
level personnel responsible for
Operations/Facilities and Safety/Security to
review the Principals Interview/Questionnaire
(a copy will be provided)

Tom Q. at Patriot Services will be meeting with
and interviewing your local law
enforcement, school resource
officers and other first responders.



Coordinate Site Visits with School
Calendars



No site visits
will be
conducted:

During summer
recess months

During winter,
spring or other
vacation/break

During Teacher
In-service
dates

At times that
schools may
have issues:
e.g. exam
weeks






























You will be asked to schedule times for
site assessments and interviews with key
school personnel for each school. (Note:
You will be given additional information at
the Initial Interview about how many to
schedule per day and how many days it
will take to complete this process for all of
the schools in your County.)
If a school will be closing in the fall of
2011 and will not be re-purposed, do not
schedule that school for assessment.


What to Expect : How many
people?






Teams of three (3) consultants will arrive at the
school
Very

large high schools may have more than one
team assigned

Very small schools may have a team of two (2)
consultants assigned

Schools will be notified of who and how many
people to expect in advance, in addition
to the names and contact information of
team leaders and members



What to Expect: How long will it
take?












High schools could take a full day
Middle schools generally take a half day
Elementary schools (depending on size) will
be completed in less than a half day


Preparing for Assessments:
Notifying the School Community





Prior to the school assessment/site visits, we
recommend that parents/guardians,
faculty/staff and students be made aware of
the project.
Let

them understand the value and benefits
Explain that consultants will be taking pictures,
talking to school personnel and making notes
Consultants will wear badges and comply with all
procedures each school or county may have
A sample has been provided and can be
modified as desired.





Preparing for Assessments: After
the Initial Interview






Patriot Services will gather information and
pre-populate Principal Interview /
Questionnaires where possible

Preparing for Assessments:
Involving Principals























Patriot will send you a partially completed
Principal Interview/Questionnaire for each
school which you will be asked to distribute,
ideally at least one week prior to the
scheduled school assessment/site visit.

A sample e-mail explaining the project to
Principals has been provided which
can be modified as desired.


What to Expect: The School
Interview






Usually conducted by the team leader
If

completed in advance of arrival as requested,
this will take less than an hour.

If this is not completed in advance of arrival, the
interview will take up to three hours.

We strongly encourage Principals to complete in
advance as much as possible

This is an improvement to the process
we learned while working in Cabell
County

Preparing for Assessments:
What else?






While Principals and their staffs will be asked
to complete the Interview/Questionnaire to the
best of their ability prior to the scheduled site
assessment, a consultant will still review all
responses with the Principal.
If

anyone is unsure how to answer a question,
thats ok. The consultant will explain what/why
the question is being asked and guide them to the
correct response for their school.

What will be photographed/digitally
mapped?




Exterior





Interior






















Front of the school/main
entry
Knox Box
Doors to the school (and
relation to the building)
Access Road
Security Fencing or
barriers
Roads of significance
Geographical information





















Administrative Areas
Alarms and Alarm Panels
Electrical Boxes & Utility
Shut Offs
Standard Classroom
Science Lab, Shop,
Gymnasium, etc. when
applicable
Camera Systems/Camera
locations
of significance



What to Expect: What will not be
photographed?












Children
Classrooms with students present
Consultants will avoid classroom disruption



What to Expect: The Physical
Assessment















Exterior and interior
Perimeter
On the roof
(2) Consultants
One

taking photos
One taking notes



Our Assessments Include



EXTERIOR




INTERIOR




POLICIES AND PROCEDURES













Surrounding Neighborhood
Perimeter Physical Layout
Grounds Keeping/Vegetation
Roof Access
Doors & Windows
Exterior Access Control
Exterior Lighting
Exterior Wall Mounted CCTV
Stadium/ Exterior Athletic
Facilities
Outbuildings
Dumpsters/Garbage Cans










Fire Control
Emergency Power
Emergency Lighting
Alarm System
Ceilings/Floors
Main Office; PA System
Communications Devices
Interior Signage
Hallways; Stairways
Classrooms










ID Cards
Temp Personnel/Subs Protocol
Visitor/Volunteer Protocol
Outside Vendors
Key Control
Security System
After Hours Activities
Off Premises Procedures
Money Handling
Mail Handling

Visibility/Possible Concealment Library/Media Center Special Needs Students/Staff





Signage
Parking Lots
Sidewalks
Bike Racks/Cages
Student Drop-off/Pick-up








Science Rooms
Computer/Server Rooms
Auditorium/Gym
Cafeteria; Kitchen
Boiler, Mechanical Rooms
Janitor Closets
Locker Rooms
Restrooms









Emergency Procedures
Emergency Response Plan and
Integration with Public Safety Agencies
Training & Exercising
Evacuation
Sheltering
Lockdown
School Website


How First Responder Agencies Are
Involved:


























Local law enforcement (County Sheriff, Police
Departments and School Resource Officers)
will be interviewed and be asked to provide
incident planning information for each school
where they are the primary responding
agency.

Other Responder agencies are welcome and
encouraged to participate as their schedules
allow.








What Happens to the Information?




























Patriot consultants will prepare all of the data,
information and photos gathered into a Draft
Security and Vulnerability Report.
The Draft will be provided to West Virginia
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management for review.
Upon approval, the information will be entered
into a web-based secure portal database
maintained by the US Department of
Homeland Security called ACAMS.






What Happens to the Information?



























ACAMS is the Automated Critical Asset
Management System.

All data not commonly available will be
classified as Protected Critical Infrastructure
Information (PCII).

PCII can only be accessed by PCII Authorized
Users who have been given privileges specific
to an asset or group of assets or are the
Owner of the asset.







What Happens to the Information?































Any person with access to ACAMS is both a
PCII Authorized User and an ACAMS
Authorized User.

This information can help authorized
personnel prepare, plan, respond or recover
from and incident or emergency.

If you have PCII you do not automatically have
access to ACAMS, but you can view/receive
PCII information.




PCII Protections










A Final Security and Vulnerability Assessment
Report will be developed for each School and
will be classified as PCII.
Not

subject to FOIA
Cannot be used for regulatory purposes
Cannot be used for litigation



Who are Asset owners?





































Superintendents are Asset Owners for all of the
schools in their county. They do not need PCII to
receive/view PCII information for those schools.

Principals are Asset Owners for their school.
They do not need PCII to receive/view information
for those schools.

Asset Owners can share PCII information about
their asset with whomever they like, but it is
expected it will be on a need to know basis only.

Additional guidance will be provided on how PCII
should be handled.




What about First Responders?






























If there is an emergency, First Responders and
Emergency Management officials can be
provided any PCII information that they need.
It is provided on a Need to Know basis.
Persons provided PCII under an exigent
circumstance exception will be asked to obtain
PCII certification within 30 days.
If you would like to request PCII, please
contact Dallas Staples to initiate the process.
Contact information will be provided on the
SBA website.




What about ACAMS?







































PCII is a pre-requisite for ACAMS.
WVDHSEM will work with local Emergency
Managers, WVSP, Military Affairs/Public
Safety, and local first responder agencies in
determining who should have access to
ACAMS and what User Level and Assets they
will be given access to.

Superintendents and Principals do not have
access to ACAMS.

ACAMS training will be coordinated through
the WVSP.














What Next?

E-mail Sheila Diaz at:
sdiaz@patriot-services.com
OR
Law Enforcement POC
Anticipate receiving a call from
Tom Quisenberry




What Next? E-mail Sheila





























Request samples
Provide Preferred Dates/weeks/month for the
County Interview and Site Assessments (either
this school year or next)

Ask Questions that may come up after you
leave here today

Share and gather information
This

is a GREAT project which will make West
Virginia schools safer for EVERYONE!




What Next? Law Enforcement



























You will be contacted by Tom Quisenberry to
schedule a time to meet and be provided by e-
mail the law enforcement questionnaire which
will need to be completed for each school
where your agency is primary.

Other First Responder agencies will also be
contacted as needed and be encouraged to
participate in the process.




Contact Information










Sheila Diaz
Cell

phone: 517.420.8721
sdiaz@patriot-services.com

Tom Quisenberry
Cell

phone: 248.884.1952
E-mail: tquisenberry@patriot-services.com

Dallas Staples
Cell

phone: 681.945.5273
E-mail: dallas.s.staples@wv.gov














Questions & Answers


Thank You!