During an address on January 27, 2022, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona shared that more than 96 percent of schools are open today, compared to 46 percent a year ago. Whole school community efforts to carry out and continually improve plans around response and recovery to the pandemic are noticed, appreciated, and reflected in those percentages. Secretary Cardona also shared that supporting students through pandemic response and recovery was one of four priority areas that will guide the work of the Department in the coming years. Schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education — in collaboration with partners at the state, regional, local, and Federal level — have continued to respond to pivots between in-person, remote, and hybrid teaching and learning. The REMS TA Center knows that work will continue, and we are here to support you along the way with free resources, tools, and trainings. Thank you for all that you do to support school and higher ed safety!

During the month of March, in conjunction with St. Patrick's Day, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency invites you to participate in the It's Not Luck! stakeholder activity to raise awareness about the importance of emergency preparedness. Since emergency events can occur at any time and preparedness takes a team to plan, no one should rely solely on luck. There are several tips and graphics available on the Ready.gov site that can be used to encourage your school/campus community to actively engage in preparedness activities in advance of an emergency:

• Social media graphics to be shared on your social media channels
• Social media messages with hashtags and emojis for you to customize

It’s Not Luck! and other stakeholder activities and events can be found on the REMS TA Center Calendar. Use this resource to find trainings, Web chats, and conferences for K-12 and higher ed practitioners on safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness topics. The search engine allows you to filter by location, type, audience, month, year, and key terms. The REMS TA Center Calendar features FREE virtual and in-person events that are offered by the U.S. Department of Education, Federal agency partners, and the REMS TA Center.

With funds from the U.S. Department of Education’s Grants to States for School Emergency Management grant, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) created a free online learning system for practitioners in Oklahoma to become certified in school safety and security and receive Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training credit hours. The School Safety and Security Professional Program is a free online learning system offering training on a wide range of topics fundamental to creating high-quality school emergency operations plans (EOPs), such as threat assessment. The program is arranged around the National Preparedness System’s five mission areas: prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. Further, the program allows local education agencies in Oklahoma to use their current EOP to work through a series of modules that will help them evaluate their plan, identify areas that need attention, and create the best high-quality EOP possible for their school district.

After the success of this program with current K-12 practitioners, OSDE has started partnering with colleges and universities across Oklahoma to incorporate the Professional Program into courses to train educators. View the program below.

Is your education agency familiar with the National Incident Management System (NIMS)? NIMS offers a systematic approach to collaborating with community partners before, during, and after emergency events to protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from threats and hazards that impact the community. NIMS offers common procedures, standards, principles, processes, and terminology that can be integrated into school EOPs to support school safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness. NIMS is applicable to all types of emergency incidents, and all types of schools and education agencies can implement NIMS.

To support education agencies in the implementation of NIMS, the REMS TA Center has developed a NEW fact sheet: Implementing the National Incident Management System (NIMS): Practitioner-Oriented Strategies for Education Agencies. This fact sheet provides an overview of NIMS, describes how NIMS fits into school safety planning, offers six practitioner-oriented strategies around NIMS implementation, and highlights key related resources.

Nearly 2 years after widespread school closures resulting from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all of America’s reporting school districts are back open for in-person learning (U.S. Department of Education, 2022, February 14). However, a small number of school districts continue to operate virtual or hybrid learning models or have had to switch between different learning models to adapt to the changing COVID landscape in their communities. The U.S. Department of Education recently released a COVID Data Dashboard tracking the current pandemic and providing the public with up-to-date information on nationwide school district operations and COVID cases. While the COVID-19 pandemic represents one example of a biological hazard that may result in school closures, there are a variety of threats and hazards year-round that can trigger school closures, dismissals, or prolonged absences of students or staff.

To prepare for unexpected disruptions to school functions, the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans recommends developing a Continuity of Operations (COOP) Annex that contains specific considerations for teaching and learning. The REMS TA Center has developed a suite of resources on this topic to support schools and school districts in maintaining academic operations after emergency events. The Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning for Education Agencies: Ensuring Continuity of Teaching and Learning During Prolonged Absences, Dismissals, and Closures TA Snapshot includes action items, key considerations, and educator tools to support distance education. Other resources and training opportunities on developing a COOP Annex include: a fact sheet , a Webinar, an online course, and a module in the Specialized Training Package.