National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day is celebrated annually on January 9. It is a day to honor and show appreciation to local law enforcement for all they do to protect and serve their local community, including its schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education (IHEs). Collaborative planning teams within many education agencies may include representation from law enforcement officers. Take time on January 9 to recognize the significant role of law enforcement, including school resource officers (SROs) and campus police, in support of school and campus safety.

These sworn officers have various roles and responsibilities in school and campus emergency management before, during, and after an incident. They are dedicated to protecting school and campus communities, preventing adversarial and human-caused threats from occurring, and responding to emergencies every day. Their expertise can help inform the emergency operations plan’s (EOP) development, implementation, and refinement. Law enforcement officers are experienced in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, observing human behaviors, and response protocols. Therefore, they can enhance preparedness at your education agency by serving on behavioral threat assessment and site assessment teams, delivering trainings, and leading emergency exercises.

To learn more about the critical role of SROs, watch our Webinar on the role of SROs in school safety that includes an overview of the Averted School Violence Database. The REMS TA Center also invites you to download our asynchronous training module, Understanding the Roles of School Resource Officers (SROs), to train your school planning team and supplement your existing training and exercise program.

Did you know the REMS TA Center has a dedicated Grant Programs Web page that highlights funding opportunities from various Federal agencies? The Web page is updated monthly and provides information on grants that support emergency management planning.

The U.S. Department of Education recently released the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – Stronger Connections Grant Program that provides funding for state education agencies (SEAs) to make competitive subgrants to high-need local education agencies (LEAs) to establish safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments. The Department released a Frequently Asked Questions document that is designed to assist SEAs and LEAs in guiding effective use of Stronger Connections funds, which includes use of safety assessments, safety plans, and strategies, including EOPs, as activities that lead to positive school culture and climate. Within the FAQ, the Department encourages grantees to develop and implement high-quality, comprehensive EOPs that consider a range of hazards and threats and that outline plans to practice emergency drills and exercises and develop after-action reports in collaboration with a broad range of partners.

The REMS TA Center offers two comprehensive resources, The Role of Districts in Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans and Building Blocks to School Safety: A Toolkit for K-12 Schools and School Districts for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans, that you may find useful when responding to the priorities of this grant. Both describe the six-step planning process that enhances collaboration amongst schools and community partners and provide planning parameters for district-level and school-level teams in addressing all types of threats, hazards, and emergency management functions as LEAs develop, maintain and continuously update EOPs. Another resource, the REMS TA Center Tool Box, provides inspiration from other LEAs such as various types of checklists, tabletop exercises, sample memoranda of understanding, and additional resources that were developed by practitioners in the field that can help LEAs and their schools as they consider how to design comprehensive emergency management programs and EOPs. As Stronger Connections Grant activities progress, check back with the REMS TA Center for resources that may be helpful for enhancing your local emergency management planning efforts.

Developing high-quality EOPs and school safety policies and procedures requires a collaborative process that prioritizes the well-being and holistic needs of students, staff, and the surrounding community. After all, school safety work involves more than just ensuring the physical well-being of students; comprehensive school safety plans and programs value and consider the social, emotional, and mental health aspects of safety that contribute to a truly all-encompassing approach to the wellness of the whole school community. High-quality school safety and emergency preparedness programs should reflect an understanding of the diverse identities, abilities, strengths, and needs of the whole school community. To support K-12 schools and school districts in their work to design equitable EOPs and school safety programs that consider the needs of the whole child, whole school, and whole community, the REMS TA Center offers several resources and training opportunities.

• Learn from our recent Webinar on this topic, titled Developing Comprehensive and Equitable School Safety Plans That Consider the Whole Child, Whole School, and Whole Community;
• Read our fact sheet, Integrating K-12 Students With Disabilities Into School Emergency Management Planning;
• Listen to our two-part podcast series on Providing Supports for Students and Families Experiencing Homelessness; and
• Learn about the roles of School Mental Health Professionals, Families, and Community Engagement Specialists in supporting school safety.

Tune in to a NEW #REMSontheAir podcast series on using tip lines to prevent potential emergencies. A report funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Tip Lines for School Safety: A National Portrait of Tip Line Use, defines school tip lines as “structured systems that allow students, parents, school staff, or community members to report information about potential threats.” In the latest #REMSontheAir podcast episode, the REMS TA Center sits down with school safety partners from the Ohio School Safety Center within the state’s Department of Public Safety to talk about the creation and management of their state-based tip line, called the Safer Ohio School Tip Line. This state example offers insights, strategies, and success stories for leveraging tip lines as a school safety tool.

Listen to the new episode on tip lines and other #REMSontheAir podcast series online at the REMS TA Center Website. We invite you to join the conversation by using the #REMSontheAir hashtag on Twitter or by emailing us at info@remstacenter.org to submit questions or topic ideas to be featured in future episodes.

Did you know that the REMS TA Center has created a low-tech and easy-to-use tool to develop or revise your school EOP? Based on our EOP ASSIST software application, the EOP ASSIST Interactive Workbook prompts you through the six-step planning process and helps you format a custom plan. There are two parts to the Interactive Workbook: instructions (PDF) and worksheets (Microsoft Word Document). Together, they offer you support in the following ways:

• Transform Federal guidance for EOP development into actionable steps;
• Collect custom information for your school building;
• Incorporate resources, examples, and guidance for each task in the six-step planning process; and
• Align your plan into a format that is recommended by six Federal agencies.

The Interactive Workbook is available in two languages: English and Spanish! Furthermore, you are able to add state and/or local requirements, mandates, policies, and resources directly into the instructions. Email us at info@remstacenter.org to request the Microsoft Word version of the instructions so that you can customize it for your school(s) and planning team(s). Read more in our flyer and share it with others in the field.