FILE: EBBC
EMERGENCY/CRISIS MANAGEMENT
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR EVACUATION
It shall be the policy of the Orleans Parish School Board to provide a comprehensive plan for evacuation of schools in the event of a disaster. Disaster may come in many forms such as chemical spills, bomb threats, and/or a state of National Emergency. In cooperation with the local police and fire departments, 911 Call Center, and the Orleans Parish/New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the plan shall include all centers and schools located in Orleans Parish.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND RESPONSE
Unanticipated tragic events can quickly escalate into a school-wide catastrophe if not dealt with immediately and effectively. School personnel shall plan in advance for the welfare, safety, and care of students and staff members. The School Board shall require the development and annual review of an Emergency Operations Plan for the school district to provide for the coordination between the School Board, schools, and federal, state and local agencies to ensure the safety of students and personnel and to prevent and minimize property damage, and to ensure the continuity of the School Board’s business operations.
Every school shall be required to have a Crisis Management and Response Plan and a District Threat Assessment Team. The School District shall have an Emergency Preparedness and Recovery Point of Contact.
DEFINITIONS
Crisis Management and Response Plan shall mean a plan to address school safety and the incidence of a shooting or other violence at schools, on school buses, and at school-related activities; to respond effectively to such incidents; and to ensure that every student, teacher, and school employee has access to a safe, secure, and orderly school that is conducive to learning. The plan shall also address the management of any other emergency situation.
District Threat Assessment Team shall mean a team established by the School Board. The team shall include the Superintendent; the principal of each school; a person with responsibility over the school facilities; a mental health professional employed by the School Board, or, if the School Board has no such employee, a mental health professional selected by the Superintendent; any school resource officer employed by the School Board; any Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor employed by the School Board; and the emergency preparedness and recovery point of contact.
Emergency preparedness and recovery point of contact which shall mean a person selected by the Superintendent to serve as a point of contact with local and state officials and the media in the event of an emergency.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND RESPONSE PLAN
The Crisis Management and Response Plan shall be prepared by each principal jointly with local law enforcement, fire, public safety, and emergency preparedness officials. The plan shall seek to utilize resources and information available through the Louisiana Commission on School and Nonprofit Security, La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§29:726.5, et seq. In preparing or revising the plan, the principal shall consult with the District Threat Assessment Team. The principal and the Threat Assessment Team shall determine whether to consider input from students enrolled in the school and their parents, teachers at the school, other school employees, and community leaders.
The plan, which shall focus on preventing the loss of life and the injury of students and teachers and other school employees, shall:
Detail the roles and responsibilities of each school employee and of each local and state public safety and emergency preparedness office.
Include the relevant coordination agreements, services, and security measures of a school.
Provide for an all-hazards approach response plan for emergency events including any event with a hostage, an active shooter, or a building lock-down.
Provide for notification of parents, faculty, staff, and local public safety officials in the event of a shooting or other violent incident or emergency situation.
Provide for the counseling of students by mental health professionals, encouraging peer helper programs, and identifying students who may have experienced rejection or other traumatic life events.
Each principal, jointly with local law enforcement, fire, public safety, school resource officers, and emergency preparedness officials, shall review the plan at least once annually and shall revise the plan as necessary. Each principal shall submit the plan in writing to the Superintendent for approval at least once annually, including upon each revision, and shall notify all teachers and other school employees of the contents of the plan and any revisions made to it.
Within the first thirty (30) days of each school year, each principal shall conduct a safety drill to rehearse the components of the Crisis Management and Response Plan, including an active shooter scenario. In addition, each school year, each principal shall conduct at least one additional drill during high traffic or transition points in the school day. Not later than seven (7) days after each drill, the principal shall submit a written report summarizing the details of the drill to the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall comment on the drill to the principal, who shall consider the comments in revising the plan.
Each Crisis Management and Response Plan shall provide that:
Classroom doors with locks shall be in compliance with all fire safety standards promulgated by the office of state fire marshal code enforcement and building safety of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and shall remain locked during instructional time. Each plan shall provide that a locked door shall not obstruct egress.
If legislative funding is provided, bleeding control kits shall be placed in easily accessible locations in each school; and,
The principal shall designate employees to be trained in the proper use of a bleeding control kit and in traumatic injury response.
A person acting in good faith who administers aid for a traumatic injury, including through the use of a bleeding control kit, shall be immune from criminal and civil liability for the administration, unless personal injury results from the gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct in the administration of aid.
Each school year, each principal shall be responsible for providing in-service training, which may be incorporated into a meeting or training session held for another purpose, for all teachers and school employees pertaining to the plan and shall involve local law enforcement, fire, public safety, and emergency preparedness officials in the preparation and presentation of the training. The training shall include an active shooter exercise. The training shall be reported to the Superintendent and the Louisiana Department of Education.
Each principal shall keep a copy of the approved plan in his office and shall provide a copy to the following individuals and departments, each of whom shall be responsible for keeping in his/her respective office a copy of the plan that is readily accessible in the event of a school shooting or other violent incident or emergency situation:
The president of the School Board;
The Superintendent; and,
The chief of police of the municipality or the sheriff of the parish where the school is located, as applicable, as well as the local fire chief whose office is in closest geographic proximity to the school.
The Louisiana Department of Education.
The Center for Safe Schools within the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Procedures.
The School Board may adopt rules and regulations as it deems necessary to provide for the implementation of the provisions of this Plan.
The Superintendent shall make an annual report to the School Board on the status of the plan of each school under the School Board’s jurisdiction and shall submit a copy of the report to the Louisiana Department of Education and the Center for Safe Schools.
OTHER EMERGENCY DRILLS
The Orleans Parish School Board shall require procedures be planned by the principal and faculty of each school to assure orderly movement and evacuation of students to the safest area in the event of fire, weather, or other disasters. Practice drills shall be used to ensure the effectiveness of the procedures.
Every separate administration building shall conduct practice drills as well.
Revised: January 17, 2019
Revised: January 18, 2024
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:416.16, 29:726.5, 29:726.5.1, 40:1578.6
Louisiana School Transportation Specifications and Procedures, Bulletin 119
Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, Bulletin 741, Louisiana Department of Education
Life Safety Code, National Fire Protection Association
Board minutes, 1-17-19, 12-19-19, 1-18-24
Orleans Parish School Board