Melanie Paliotti

EDA611
Emergency Plan

It is crucial that every school and organization not only establish a comprehensive safety
plan, but also regularly review, practice, and revise the living document. All stakeholders
endeavor to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for the students and all in the
school community. There are many potential threats - from emergencies caused by humans
such as violent acts and crimes, and other potential safety hazards, such as accidents, natural
disasters (wildfires, earthquakes, flooding) or outbreaks of diseases, for example. It is crucial
that members of the school site team collaborate with district leadership, the local government
and community partners (including first responders, public/mental health officials, and other
local emergency management offices) so that the emergency plan is clear, concise, and
actionable. The plan should be reviewed and necessary revisions should be made in an
ongoing basis.
Last spring, when I was serving as the assistant principal of Vista Academy, I was
involved in the planning and facilitating of monthly drills to practice our response to a variety of
threats and emergency scenarios. After each drill, our team came together to discuss the drill
and to give feedback and make suggestions for any needed changes to our plans. Students
and staff were given information about what went well as well as areas in need of continued
improvement. We also, unfortunately, had the opportunity to put our plans into action to ensure
our students’ safety during several occasions where a full campus lockdown was necessary and
also for an evacuation for smoke and possible fire in the performing arts center. The district
business services - safety and environmental manager, the police and/or fire departments,
inspectors, teachers, parents, and students all had the opportunity to provide feedback. Two of
the events occured after school hours and also required us to utilize our plan for releasing
students to their families. It is important to communicate with the school community and release
statements through a variety of channels - phone blast, email, and on the website, for example.
Each spring, every school in our district must update and make revisions to their
Comprehensive School Safety Plan. A team is gathered to review and make any needed
changes or revisions. Many parts of the plan are outlined by the school district so that all school
plans are organized in a consistent manner so that responders and officials can rely on the fact
that many of the expected procedures and responses are the same from one campus to the
next. Each campus in the district, however, has their own specific plan because each facility is
different based on location, age/types of buildings, students and staff (including specific plans
for anyone who requires additional assistance in an emergency) and many other factors. Last
spring, we received some direction from the district directly about some specific updates that
were required. I worked together with several other elementary assistant principals and
principals to make the needed revisions. After many stakeholders review the plan, the approval
process begins. In April/May the plan is submitted to the district for review. In May, a meeting
for public input is held and the plan is presented to the School Site Council for approval. The
Principal, SSC President, a Classified Employee Representative, a Teacher/Certificated
Representative all sign to certify that the requirements of California Education Code 32280-
32282 have been met in the development of the Comprehensive School Safety Plan. The
school’s designated Law Enforcement Officer, and Fire Department Representative also read,
certify and sign the plan. The CSSP is then submitted to the Vista Unified School District
Governing Board for approval at the September meeting. In June, district representatives
provide further feedback about any incomplete sections of the plan. If any of the categories on
the Feedback Form at found to be incomplete, they need to be completed and corrected by mid
August in time for final review and approval by the Board of Directors.
The number of assistant principal positions in the district was greatly reduced and I was
relocated to a new school with a much higher student population for the 2018-2019 school year.
This 611 course is usually offered in the spring semester when all of these committees and
teams are gathered to give feedback and revisions to the safety plan. This assignment has
been very helpful to me in my ongoing review my new school’s plan. We have I have been
able to compare it to the process and suggestions outlined in the “Guide For Developing High-
Quality School Emergency Operations Plans” from the U.S. Department of Education, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S.
Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency published in 2013. The Guide allowed me to compare the process we
utilized at my prior school site and to begin to establish plans for our ongoing review and
approval process this spring at my current school site.
The Guide provides a step by step process to follow when creating/revising safety plans
or Emergency Operations Plans (EOP). Step 1 is to Form a Collaborative Planning Team.
Members of our Planning Committee will be our school administrators (principal and assistant
principal), Office Manager/Secretary, Plant Lead/Facilities Manager, School Nurse and Health
Tech, School Counselor, School Psychologist, representatives of our classified and certificated
team, our School Resource Officer and Fire Marshal. Parent representatives from our School
Site Council, ELAC, PTA, Foundation should also be included.
 “Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8,” helps define and provides common language
around five stages of preparedness: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and
Recovery. In the Prevention stage attempts are made to deter and avoid or stop potential risks,
threats or emergencies. Protection is the ongoing efforts to all in the school community to
protect and secure schools from harm. Mitigation means “the capabilities necessary to eliminate
or reduce the loss of life and property damage by lessening the impact of an event or
emergency.” (Guide For Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans 2013,
pg. 2) Response is the effort to stabilize the emergency, sae lives and property and establish a
safe and secure environment. The Recovery stage is working to restore the learning
environment after an emergency.
Figure 1: Steps in the Planning Process on page 5 outline the 6 stages of the process.
For the first half of this year we have been in Step 6 “Plan Implementation and Maintenance.”
We have held staff meetings to review and train the staff and to ensure all of our equipment is
restocked and ready. Each classroom has a lockblock to allow their locked classroom doors to
be quickly shut and locked without leaving the classroom. Each emergency backpack and
bucket has been checked and is ready. Each classroom is equipped with signs (evacuation
routes, help needed/all clear, etc.) Teachers were provided access to the plan and the
shortened quick version of the plan with concise information, charts, emergency numbers,
maps, etc. Teachers know their various roles based on the situation and what is expected of
them. For example, an Incident Command System has been established with “Operations
Chief,” “Safety and Security,” “Public Information,” and “Situation Analysis.” Teams are
established for Search and Rescue, Medical Team, Student Care/Supervision, Student Release
Team and all teachers know who their “Buddy” is should a teacher require assistance during an
evacuation. Maps include information about Emergency Utility Shut-Offs, control panels, and
location of supplies. In previous revisions it was determined that bolt cutters may be needed to
open the fence and allow students to evacuate (not all adults on campus have keys to the
gates.) These bolt cutters have been purchased and are located around campus in specified
locations. Step 6 also gives us the opportunity to exercise our plans and practice how we would
calmly handle a variety of situations. We follow a set schedule of drills (on a variety of days of
the week and times of the day.) This week, we practiced a lockdown drill while students were
out on the playground at recess. Students were to run to the closest open door/safe location
but we discovered that many ran back to their classrooms or to another teacher they knew and
ran by rooms that were open and much closer. Some students hid underneath the lunch tables.
This has given us the opportunity to better plan and prepare our school community. Teachers
are taking their classes on a walk of the campus and having students look around and note
where the closest classrooms are from various points on campus (playground, baseball field,
lunch tables, etc.) We are now discussing ordering flags for rooms nearest the
playground/lunch tables and assigning Noon Duties to those rooms because teachers are
usually out of the room and in the teacher’s lounge during recess or off campus at lunch and the
doors may be locked and be without the presence of an adult.) The adult assigned to that room
could wave a flag and secure the room and door after as many students as possible are safely
inside (as the situation allows.) Each time we exercise our plan our team mets to review, revise,
and maintain the plan with input from other stakeholders as well.
The Guide also discusses the need for ongoing assessment in four different categories:
Site Assessment, Cultural and Climate Assessment, School Threat Assessment, and Capacity
Assessment. These are four areas we can plan for now as we establish multiple measures and
checks in these categories to enable us to maintain a safe and healthy campus. The Site
Assessment includes campus walk throughs with the plant lead to ensure we are compliant with
ADA, Williams Act compliance, fire code, etc. We check that evacuation routes are posted,
emergency equipment (backpack, buckets, fire extinguishers) is readily available, that the
batteries in the AED are still charged and functioning properly, and that the buildings and
grounds are free of threats and hazards. We measure culture and climate throughout the year
formally and informally in multiple ways. Currently there has been a concern about some
extreme problem behaviors from a few students and teachers are working with administration
and the union representatives (ability for a teacher to file charges or to suspend a student from
their class.) Some examples of School Threat Assessment have also occurred and are
ongoing. We have used district protocols and threat assessments to determine if a student was
a threat to themselves or others and involved other district officials and outside services.
Capacity Assessment allows us to identify those on our team with specific skills (CPI training,
current First Aid/CPR certification, etc.)
I utilized the “Simple Rules of Plan Writing” checklist on page 18 to assess our plan
(checklists and visual aids, clear writing and a logical consistent structure, and enough details
for the plan to be actionable. I also compared our plan to the six items listed on page 19 that
signify that the plan is complete. Something we need to consider is how we share the
information with our many volunteers (Watch DOGS and Bookworms, parent volunteers) and
substitute teachers. We need to also consider, as discussed on page 29, how a shelter-in-place
situation affects students who require regular administration of medication. I found it very
interesting that these documents from 2013 already include the idea of “Run, Hide, Fight.” Our
district leadership was trained in this last June and we were told that all other adults in the
district would have the training at the start of this school year. Due to time constraints and
parameters in the contract, the district has been unable to provide staff with this training so far
this year. We attempted to provide our staff with this training separately twice this year and
were not allowed to provide the training yet. In light of the recent violent events on school
campuses and in other public venues over the last year, teachers, parents, and students want to
have more training and systems in place to prevent tragedies and keep all in our community
safe. Now with the freeze on all spending and budget constraints, I wonder when we will ever
be able to provide this important training in our district.
These materials have given me the opportunity to review my current site safety plan
with “fresh eyes.” I will review this guide again and the six steps in the planning process as I
continue to plan for our review, revisions, and approval process of the 2019-2020 CSSP this
spring.