"Lessons Learned" is a series of publications that are a brief recounting of actual school emergencies and crises. This "Lessons Learned" issue examines the incidence of student walkout demonstrations and the various ways in which administrators, school staff, law enforcement, and the community at large can help keep youths…

This article discusses one of the best defenses against a violent threat in schools -- practicing emergency and lockdown drills. In some buildings, classroom doors lack locks and exterior doors are old. Other buildings have public announcement systems that do not work well throughout a school building, or that lack speakers in restrooms. Still…

This article draws from and builds on the experience of schools in San Diego County following the forest fires that wrought havoc on the area last October. Three teachers (Dana Riggs, Marcelina Madueno and Miriam Atlas) provide a moving account of the personal experiences of their students, who lived through the fires. Their recollections…

As a result of high profile shootings and critical incidents in schools on a national level, combined with the lack of a cohesive, standardized approach to safety and security in Idaho Schools, Superintendent Tom Luna requested an appropriation to address this issue and the Legislature allocated 5150.000 in FY 2008 for the Safe and Secure…

The decision that led to the 1992 opening of the University of Connecticut's new public safety complex was excellent timing. Three years after the complex opened, complete with a state-of-the-art Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), an emergency operations/training center and an indoor firing range, the quiet, nearly 4,000-acre UConn campus…

New Brunswick is a small Maritime province in Canada bordering on Maine. With just 700,000 people, the population is clustered in small cities and towns. Nevertheless, tragedies happen here as they do elsewhere and there is a need to be prepared. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) had developed PREPaRE, a curriculum founded…

Now more than ever, campus safety is of paramount importance. A reliable emergency mass notification system is one way to ensure the safety of constituents, and Brandeis University (MA) recently invested in a system that does the job. In this article, the author interviews John Turner, the school's director of networks and systems. Turner…

This issue of ERCMExpress provides direction to schools and school districts in "Creating Emergency Management Plans." To ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff, schools and school districts nationwide should create comprehensive, multi-hazard emergency management plans that focus on the four phases of emergency management--…

"Helpful Hints" offers a quick overview of school emergency preparedness topics that are frequently the subject of inquiries. Developing and implementing comprehensive, multi-hazard emergency management plans is an ongoing process that must be consistently reinforced and strengthened. Opportunities for reviewing, strengthening and updating…

The fire that struck in the Eastern Illinois University's Blair Hall on April 28, 2004, disrupted a number of professional lives, though no one was killed or injured due to a good emergency plan dutifully executed. Several tips on disaster preparedness and recovery that could benefit institutions caught in a similar situation are presented.

Traditionally, violent acts against children in Japan were considered private, isolated incidents largely outside the reach of government policy and legal action. Increasingly, however, public perception in Japan, mainly driven by the mass media, has shifted away from such complacency. A few well-publicized attacks on children have forced Mombusho…

In a residence hall on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, two students had been shot to death. A couple of hours later, the tragedy multiplied by horrific proportions as across campus, 30 students and instructors were gunned down in a classroom building. As the details emerged of the worst shooting incident in U.S. history, educators and…

This issue of ERCMExpress presents food safety and food defense for schools. Many schools and school districts across the country have established emergency management plans; however, these plans are often not comprehensive, practiced regularly or written in collaboration with the local community. It is recommended that schools adopt a…

"Lessons Learned" is a series of publications that are a brief recounting of actual school emergencies and crises. This "Lessons Learned" issue focuses on a chemical spill that went unreported for approximately seven years, setting off a series of responses from the school district's Environmental Health and Safety Department (EHS) and the state…

"MCPS School Safety and Security at a Glance" provides, in a single document, information about the reporting of incidents related to school safety and security, school climate, local school safety program descriptions, and serious incidents in all Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. The information is presented for each school.…