Along with a crisis management plan, schools should have internal operations planned ahead to help school communities cope with serious problems.
In the best of worlds, students would be able to go to school each day and never have to face any of life’s grim realities. Unfortunately, that is not the way the world operates. People die, accidents happen, students and parents fall gravely ill, and unspeakable events take place in the world. Recognizing that crisis situations can and do occur at schools, preparing to handle the situation can make a huge difference in how the students deal with the issues in both the short and long term.
Here is a short list of the internal processes that should be ready to take effect the moment a crisis is announced:
Someone should activate an internal and external phone tree, and an email list, contacting all personnel internally, and contacting a designated parent to start external phone and email tree.
The phone email message should be brief and state only three things: that an event has happened to a student (or parent, teacher, etc.), the status of after-school sports and activities, and that a letter will be sent home ASAP with plans for dealing with the children.
The letter that is sent home should be prepared ahead of time and modified to fit the needs of the current crisis situation. The letter should not go into any detail beyond what the affected family requests. The letter should include names and resources of community helpers, an attached article on helping with grieving if appropriate, tips on how to focus on the child, assurances that help will be available for students who need grief counseling, and any other topics germane to the situation.
And, only one person should be designated to speak with the media.
