Visit the REMS TA Center Calendar to find trainings, Web chats, conferences, and other stakeholder activities and events for K-12 and higher ed practitioners on safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness topics. All events featured are FREE to participate in and range from virtual to in-person opportunities for engagement and professional development.

One of the key planning principles for developing a high-quality school or higher ed emergency operations plan (EOP) is that it includes and provides for the needs of the whole school or campus community, including students, staff, visitors, and volunteers with disabilities and other access and functional needs (AFN). Schools and institutions of higher education (IHEs) can accomplish this by including a disability specialist, special educator, or member of the IHE’s Office of Disability Services on the core planning team. This will help ensure that those with disabilities and other AFN are considered within each section of the EOP and during every step of the planning process. The below REMS TA Center resources help schools and IHEs account for AFN in their EOPs.

• Addressing Access and Functional Needs in School and Higher Education Emergency Operations Plans, Webinar
• Integrating K-12 Students With Disabilities Into School Emergency Management Planning, Fact sheet
• Integrating the Needs of Students and Staff With Disabilities and Other Access and Functional Needs, Specialized Training Package module
• Ensuring Access and Functional Needs Are Met Before, During, and After Emergency Incidents, Web page

Including and considering the needs of those with disabilities and other AFN in all aspects of EOP development advances equity in emergency management planning. This thereby contributes to the safety and well-being of all students, staff, and visitors before, during, and after any emergency incident.

School Social Work Week is upon us! From March 5 to March 11, the REMS TA Center encourages everyone to take time to shine a light on the positive impact that school social workers have on students, families, and school communities. School social workers serve as vital members of core planning teams and can provide support in prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery from emergencies. According to the School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA), the theme of this week is “We Rise.” School social workers demonstrate the hope they have in bettering students’ lives by listening, understanding, and challenging inequities. Each day they rise to the many challenges of supporting all students! Let’s come together to show gratitude for their ongoing work.

SSWAA is proud to promote National School Social Work Week and has provided a few resources to help you celebrate the occasion. Browse these resources to brainstorm with your administration on how you can be creative in thanking your school’s social worker.

Check out this Webinar by the REMS TA Center that highlights the role of mental health professionals, including school social workers, in supporting school safety.

To meet a need in the field for a centralized source of information on key areas of emergency management at the state and local levels, the REMS TA Center created an interactive infographic map, located on our State Emergency Management Resources Web page! Supported through rigorous, ongoing research, this interactive map offers resources for K-12 and higher ed safety practitioners under four main foci: State Contacts and Reports, Mandates, Offices of Federal and National Partners, and Grantees.

To get started, click on your state or territory, pick a topic, and access information relevant to safety, security, and emergency preparedness in your location. After choosing your state, click on Contacts and Reports for a comprehensive hyperlinked list of school safety contact(s), state partners, your state education agency, and your state higher ed agency. Identify national partners like those at the Departments of Education; Health and Human Services; Commerce; Justice; and Homeland Security by selecting Offices of Federal and National Partners. Or, if you are looking for state-level research and policy, access school safety commission reports for your state under Contacts and Reports and enhance your knowledge of relevant legislation by clicking Mandates.

To support access to these resources, the REMS TA Center released a NEW tutorial video. Watch it to learn more about the features and functionality of the interactive map and download the file to share and integrate it into team activities.

As recommended in the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (School Guide), school EOPs should be customized to the building level and created collaboratively. Rural schools and school districts can be more limited in their access to resources, so understanding what is available ahead of time is a critical component of EOP development. The REMS TA Center has created a fact sheet specifically for rural school leaders and core planning teams, entitled Rural Schools: Emergency Management Planning for All Settings. It provides information on how to engage in emergency management planning in collaboration with community partners as well as highlights the importance of the rural community at large coming together to support safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness in rural school settings.

Information within this fact sheet and across the REMS TA Center’s Website and resources are from the School Guide and The Role of Districts in Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans. These guidance documents are based on years of emergency management planning work and offer a six-step planning process that may be used by all education agency types, including those that are rural. The REMS TA Center recognizes the unique needs of rural schools and school districts and is happy to offer a fact sheet to support EOP development.

Did you know that the REMS TA Center houses a virtual library of tools that have been created by state and local practitioners? The Tool Box currently features more than 400 resources that can support schools, school districts, IHEs, and their community partners as they work to enhance EOPs and engage in emergency management planning. In alignment with REMS TA Center efforts to help support the development of equitable and accessible EOPs, tools are offered in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Farsi, Korean, Albanian, Tagalog, and more.

Tool Box resources fall within the following categories:

• Checklists
• Drills, Tabletops, or Other Exercises
• Forms
• Job Descriptions
• Memoranda of Understanding
• Organizational Charts
• Planning Guidelines
• Procedures
• Reports
• Policy Documents
• Templates
• Trainings

Have you created tools, documents, templates, or presentations for your education agency to use in emergency preparedness planning? Submit your tool today to the REMS TA Center’s Tool Box, so that other practitioners in the field can benefit from your great work! All authors are given credit for their tools within the Tool Box.