School Emergency Plan
How would you, as principal, gauge the success of this plan?
On the surface the Emergency Response and Crisis Management Plan for Dunn School appears quite thorough. Comparing it to an emergency response plan on the FEMA website it is lacking some potential eventualities. In any event, until the plan has been tested, one cannot know -- a principal or a school board member or any one -- how effective it will be. For example the Dunn School takes pains to point out where teachers are to take their students, which hallway to use, which way to turn, how to exit the building, and that is all good.
But those directions are always in place in a school based on the possibility of a fire. Every school in the United States has a fire drill, and has directions in place in the event of a fire. But we are living in an age when fire is not the only emergency that might come to pass. Indeed there are a multitude of events that could arise with negative consequences....
These are dangerous times because it seems that at least once a month if not more often some crazed, confused person uses deadly force in schools, in public places, and the list is long when it comes to schools where a gunman has come in and blasted away ruthlessly, recklessly, and killed innocent students and teachers. So the answer to this portion of the paper is straightforward: the success of this emergency plan cannot be evaluated, and what can be said about it at the outset is that it appears to be fundamentally flawed and lacking in specifics.
TWO: Is there a way to make sure the plan works before a crisis occurs?
There is absolutely no way to be certain that this plan would be effective unless it is actually put into place during an emergency. Short of that, the Dunn School should be rehearsing their plan and updating it according to federal standards, which are referenced a bit later in this paper.
THREE: Does this play address major issues that are…
