Every Student Can Succeed and Feel More Safe and Healthy in School This Year

A year ago, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was officially signed into law. The Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) program is just one of the new efforts authorized under Title IV, Part A of this new legislation. Through this program, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will award grants to state education agencies (SEAs) for dispersal to local education agencies (LEAs) so that schools across the country can work to

• provide all students with access to a well-rounded education;
   
• improve learning conditions with teaching activities supporting safe and healthy students; and
   
• improve the safe and effective use of technology to increase academic achievement and digital literacy.
   

In the coming months, the REMS TA Center will work in collaboration with ED’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students (OSHS) to support state and local efforts to increase capacity within the focus areas outlined above. It’s important to note that each of these areas has implications for school safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness planning in both the physical and virtual settings. For example, by providing universal school-based programs to prevent violent behavior as part of a well-rounded education, schools can help address issues including community violence prevention. Furthermore, although there are differences between the two types of settings, institutions of higher education (IHEs) and K-12 education agencies address many of these same issues.

The REMS TA Center looks forward to continuing to work with schools and school districts throughout 2017 to enhance their prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery activities as a part of SSAE programs to be developed under ESSA. Learn more about the SSAE grants here: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essassaegrantguid10212016.pdf.

Have an approach to implementing ESSA or SSAE that would you like to share? Post it to the “Share New Approaches Under ESSA” forum on our Community of Practice: http://rems.ed.gov/COP/REMSCOPforum/tics.aspx?ForumID=107. Not a member? Join here: http://www.rems.ed.gov/COP/Account/Register.aspx.

New Fact Sheets on Key Topics in Emergency Management

During 2016, the REMS TA Center conducted research on a variety of key topics in school and higher ed emergency management, and developed fact sheets to explore some of those topics in more detail. Find details about and links to each fact sheet below.

• Addressing Access and Functional Needs (AFN) in School and IHE EOPs—Defines AFN and provides a look at the issue of integrating AFN into school and higher ed emergency planning, as well as recommendations from Federal agencies on ensuring that the needs of the whole school or IHE community are addressed.
   
• Incorporating Sextortion into School Emergency Operations Planning—Provides background information on #SextortionInSchools, details on how the Federal government is responding, and recommendations on how education agencies can take steps to prevent and manage incidents of sextortion, as well as help restore victims and perpetrators back into the learning environment.
   
• Post-Disaster Reunification and K-12 Schools—Offers background information on schools and post-disaster reunification, the establishment of national resources, as well as methods to address reunification in EOPs and emergency management planning.

#REMSonTheRoad

Add a Free Training to Your Professional Development Calendar This Year

Last year, the REMS TA Center traveled to 19 states to conduct 37 trainings on topics including developing EOPs for schools and IHEs, resilience strategies, and threat assessment. Each #REMSonTheRoad experience reminded us about why these trainings are such an important part of the work we do—they (1) allow SEAs and LEAs to access free, high-quality emergency management training and learn about key topics for planning and creating EOPs from expert practitioners; and (2) allow us to not only train on key topics, but also to learn, first-hand, common challenges that SEAs and LEAs have encountered in ensuring safe/healthy schools, as well as lessons learned. Our training team has taken that insight and used it to strengthen and expand our training program for this new school year by

• creating a NEW “Earthquake Preparedness for Schools Train-the-Educator” training,
   
• revising and enhancing our “Threat Assessment in Schools: Basics and Benchmarks” training, and
   
• updating the Train-the-Educator version of the “Resilience Strategies for Educators: Techniques for Self-Care and Peer Support” trainings.
   

Interested in being a site host? It’s easy.

1. Download the Host Site Application.
    
2. Fill out your contact details on page 1.
    
3. Select the trainings you’re interested in on page 2.
    

We will review your request and respond within 1 business day to confirm receipt.

Planning a Local School Safety or Emergency Management Conference? We Want Details!

Does your state or local education or emergency management agency have a conference or symposium planned for 2017? We’d love to support you with resources advertising our FREE technical assistance and training offerings, along with topic-based resources we can share based on your event agendas.

Send details to info@remstacenter.org under the subject line “Materials for State/Local Conference”.

Have a Question? Need a Resource?
Seeking Research Support? We’re Here to Help!

Curious about a school safety topic? Wondering how to approach planning for a unique threat or hazard at your site? Need resources to support your higher ed emergency preparedness efforts? No matter the question or need, the REMS TA Center is here to help. Our staff are available Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM EST to provide informed answers and related resources in response to your individual and unique questions on a wide variety of topics related to school safety, security, and emergency management and preparedness. View a preview of some of the questions we’ve answered from the field. Please don't hesitate to contact us via email, telephone, or our online TA Request Form.

A Recap of the Fall Emergency Preparedness Season

There were so many national preparedness campaigns and initiatives promoted between September and November that impacted education agencies – but the resources and information shared in conjunction with these efforts can be used year-round! Find a snapshot below, plus a brief look at the virtual resources we offer on each topic.

	National Cybersecurity Awareness Month—Learn tips from us and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on how to integrate cybersecurity into school and IHE EOPs.
	National Bullying Prevention and Awareness Month—The REMS TA Center, ED, and the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District discuss using the school EOP framework to support bullying prevention efforts in a Webinar for schools.
	Critical Infrastructure and Resilience Month—Get advice on how to plan and retrofit for safety in education facilities via a K-12-focused Webinar with us and the Education Facilities Clearinghouse.
	Global Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills—Did you join our November 30 Webinar? If you didn’t, don’t worry. An archived version is now available on our site! Have 20 minutes? Check out and share our Earthquake Preparedness for Schools Podcast with Mark Benthien, Global Coordinator for ShakeOut.
	America’s PrepareAthon!—Secretary of Education John King shares a special video message for state and local education agencies on the importance of preparing for all hazards. View it on our America’s PrepareAthon! Web page or on our Twitter page.

Don’t forget that we also hosted a series of Webinars on EOP Planning and Adversarial- and Human-Caused Threats to kick off the start of the school year. The archived versions, along with a snapshot of the Web chats that accompanied each event, are now available on our Webinars page.

TA Center Interactive Tool Bar

• Take a Virtual Training
• Use an EOP Interactive Tool
• Join the Community of Practice
• Access State Emergency Management Resources
• Fill Our Tool Box​
• Download our Emergency Management Virtual Toolkit

If you have questions or need additional assistance, please contact the REMS TA Center at 1-855-781-REMS [7367] or via email at info@remstacenter.org.