School offers structure, stability, and support to children and youth displaced by disasters. The 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes demonstrated the powerful role that schools can play in helping displaced children overcome the traumas they experience and regain their academic, social, and emotional footing. The school response to the 2005 hurricanes…

Arguing that complete, reliable, up-to-date system documentation is critical for every data processing environment, this paper on computer disaster recovery planning begins by discussing the importance of such documentation both for recovering from a systems crash, and for system maintenance and enhancement. The various components of system…

The 2004 Vermont School Crisis Guide has been revised to improve its use by School Crisis Teams and Public Safety Committees. The Guide is now organized by roles so users can quickly locate their responsibilities in a crisis. The Crisis Guide pages can be used to document pertinent information (time, witnesses) immediately after an emergency…

Surveys special needs of handicapped children during emergency situations at school. Identifies seven factors affecting disabled children's response to emergencies, including mobility, hearing, communication, and emotional problems, medication needs, physical vulnerability, and scheduling difficulties. Urges development of sound evacuation plans.…

A report on Earthquake Preparedness presents California school districts with direction for complying with existing earthquake preparedness planning laws. It first contains two sets of recommendations. The first set requires state action and is presented to the Legislature for consideration. The second set consists of policy statements and…

The only way to prepare for a violence-induced crisis in a school system is to develop a crisis-preparedness policy. Offers guidelines to a school board in developing such a plan. (MLF)

A school district's risk manager must provide the leadership in risk management for district special events. Tables list the following: (1) seven reasons for event failures, and preventive measures to take; (2) risk analysis checklist; and (3) event planning outline. (MLF)

Describes steps taken by the Weldon Law Library at Dalhousie University in salvaging books damaged in a major fire, including procedures and processes used in packing, sorting, drying, and cleaning the books. The need for a disaster plan for specific libraries is emphasized, and some suggestions are made. (CDD)

Risks to institutional data processing operations include physical damage, violations of data integrity, and restrictions of physical access. Development of a responsive and effective disaster recovery program is complex, requires significant effort and the use of specialized personnel, and spans all major disciplines and organizational levels.…

This manual provides a brief framework of organization that serves as a response tool for a wide spectrum of crisis circumstances encountered by schools. It is meant to be a generic guide for school teams and should be customized by each school that uses it. Even with emergency procedures in place, each crisis at a school needs to be evaluated as…

Crisis management teams in a rural New York State school district include 6 to 10 members. Each group must go through three days of intensive training that prepares them to deal with the media, legal issues, students, parents, and peers, while maintaining as much academic normalcy as possible in crisis situations. Lists crisis team…

Outlines 21 actions, both immediate and over the long term, that administrators can take to protect students and schools from terrorist activities. Includes establishing a chain of command, a command post, a crisis response team, a communications staff, and inservice training. (four references) (MLF)

To handle a death in the school community wisely and sensitively, school boards need to develop a death response policy. A policy developed by a diverse committee will be sensitive to the needs of the entire school community. Offers seven points to consider in drafting a policy. (MLF)

Describes a computer program called "Dispatcher's Assistant" that helps train drivers of special education vehicles, can supply first aid and emergency advice, and tracks individual student records. (MD)

The purpose of this plan is to minimize the potential for disaster and to minimize damage to materials if a disaster should occur. It contains: emergency instructions; evacuation procedures; a disaster contact list; and sections on salvage priorities, prevention, protection, response, recovery, rehabilitation, disaster team responsibilities,…