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 comprehensive school safety topics. All events featured are FREE to participate in and range from virtual to in-person opportunities for engagement and professional development.
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Back-to-School Preparedness Planning
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It’s that time of year! As back-to-school season gets underway, education agencies across the country are preparing for students and staff to return to school buildings and online classrooms. The start of a new school year provides a great opportunity to strengthen emergency preparedness efforts. Here’s a list of ways you can integrate emergency preparedness into back-to-school activities:
- Revise your emergency operations plan (EOP).
- Conduct a site assessment of buildings and grounds after the long break.
- Schedule emergency management training and professional development opportunities for the whole school community, including any new staff.
- Communicate early with parents, families, and students about their roles and responsibilities as outlined in the plan.
- Reaffirm partnerships with community stakeholders and review memoranda of understanding.
As you prepare for this back-to-school season, the Building Blocks to School Safety toolkit may be helpful to have on hand. It offers a compendium of key resources for practitioners in school emergency management and provides recommendations for creating high-quality school EOPs. The toolkit is also a great introductory resource to share with school community members or community partners that may be unfamiliar with emergency management. The REMS TA Center wishes you a safe, fun, and educational 2024-2025 school year, and we look forward to continuing to serve you!
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Funding Opportunity: Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program
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In June, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
announced a 3-year, $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program to learn more about the types of cybersecurity services and equipment that could help K-12 schools and libraries protect their broadband networks and data. Schools and libraries selected for the pilot will have flexibility to purchase a wide variety of cybersecurity services and equipment that best meets their cybersecurity needs. The FCC expects to open an application filing window this fall.
Who Is Eligible to Participate?
Schools, libraries, and a consortia of schools and libraries (e.g.,
regional or statewide groups of schools or libraries that jointly apply
for the pilot program) that meet the
E-Rate program’s eligibility requirements may apply to participate in the pilot program. A program applicant need not be a current or former E-Rate program applicant in order to be eligible to apply for the pilot.
What Services and Equipment Are Eligible for Reimbursement?
Pilot program participants will be eligible to seek reimbursement for a wide variety of cybersecurity services and equipment, subject to an overall cap. Eligible services and equipment include Advanced/Next Generation Firewalls; Endpoint Protection; Identity Protection and Authentication; and Monitoring, Detection, and Response. See a complete list of eligible services and equipment.
Where Can I Get More Information?
The FCC’s Cybersecurity Pilot Program
web page includes an overview of the pilot, Frequently Asked Questions, and an Applicant Guide.
The FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), the administrator for
the pilot program, will host training sessions on how to apply and
participate in the program. You can sign up here to
receive USAC's Cybersecurity Pilot Program emails that will include announcements about these trainings and other deadlines for the pilot.
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School Safety Roles in Focus Series: K-12 Administrators
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Every member of the education community has a part to play in school safety. As the new school year begins, it is essential that all personnel know their responsibilities and are empowered to fulfill them. To highlight the multidisciplinary nature of school safety, we’re kicking off a new series on various roles within school and local communities and how each contributes to emergency preparedness. Stay tuned as we explore a new school safety role within K-12 and local communities each month.
This month’s spotlight is on K-12 administrators, including district superintendents and school administrators, such as principals. Administrators support EOP development, implementation, and maintenance by establishing emergency preparedness as a priority, allocating resources, and assembling a collaborative planning team. As their school or district’s communication lead, administrators not only secure buy-in for school safety activities within the school community but also foster essential relationships with community partners and education agencies. Administrators guide the process of conducting site assessments, reviewing the EOP, and ensuring all staff are trained in their school safety roles. In addition, district-level administrators support school-based administrators with guidance for aligning school-level EOPs with district standards, community partner EOPs, and state legislation.
Effective K-12 administrators wear many hats, but they don’t go it alone. By drawing on the expertise of core planning teams, coordinating with community partners, and learning their position in the Incident Command System, administrators can foster strong support structures for fulfilling their emergency preparedness responsibilities. To learn more about the role of administrators in school safety, visit REMS TA Center’s web page:
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NEW Human Error Tabletop Exercise
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Human errors take place even in the most prepared schools. While human error incidents are unintentional, they can be prevented by practicing and continually refining the school EOP. To anticipate and lessen human error risks, we must first become aware of the types and causes of human error so that we can practice identifying them.
The REMS TA Center has created a NEW human error tabletop exercise to help schools understand how human error impacts safety. Included in the Emergency Exercises Training Package, this tabletop exercise asks leaders and individual team members to consider courses of action within a winter precipitation scenario. By thinking through common mistakes in perception, thought, or action, planning teams can learn to recognize and anticipate human error in emergency situations.
This and the other tabletop exercises in the Emergency Exercises Training Package come with detailed user instructions, a list of supplemental resources, best practices for conducting after-action reviews, and the tabletop exercise itself. The package specifically focuses on infectious disease, power outage, flood, winter precipitation, and cybersecurity incidents. Because the tabletop exercises apply principles used in an all-hazards approach, they also enhance aspects of school EOPs beyond these hazard-specific threats.
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Opioid Overdose Awareness and Prevention
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According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institute on Drug Abuse, drug overdose rates among adolescents have increased in recent years, indicating a rising issue that schools can play a role in preventing. In response to these trends, schools and institutions of higher education (IHEs) should include considerations for opioid overdoses and other drug-related emergencies in school and campus safety plans for the upcoming year. With National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day on August 21 and International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, schools and IHEs can use this month to learn about opioid overdoses, including fentanyl overdoses, and how they can be addressed within EOPs. To facilitate this, the REMS TA Center offers the following resources and training opportunities aimed at developing Drug Overdose Annexes:
Explore the prevalence, risks, and impacts of opioid use among youth and young adults in education agencies. Then, take steps to protect your school or campus community from overdoses and prevent them from occurring through a comprehensive EOP.
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REMS on the Road: Conference Exhibitions and Presentations
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The REMS TA Center loves connecting with practitioners in the field by exhibiting at and presenting workshops at local, state, regional, and national conferences. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to share relevant resources and cultivate partnerships that can improve the preparedness capacity of education agencies and their community partners. During the 2023-2024 school year, we participated in the below conferences:
- Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE) National Conference
- New York State Education Department’s 2nd Annual School Safety Summit
- School Resource Officer Training Conference
- North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority’s Regional Conference
- 2024 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education
- The Washington Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) Annual Conference
- American Academy of Pediatrics School Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Summit
- The National Sports Safety and Security Conference & Exhibition
- Making Schools Work Conference
- Historically Black Colleges & Universities Law Enforcement Executives & Administrators Association (HBCU-LEEA) 25th Annual Conference
- National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Annual Conference
As you plan and prepare for your 2024-2025 events, consider inviting the REMS TA Center to your event! Our team can set up a table to share information about comprehensive school safety or facilitate a breakout session on a particular topic. If your education agency would like to invite us to participate in your conference or workshop, please e-mail us at info@remstacenter.org. We look forward to continuing to support public and nonpublic schools, school districts, and IHEs.
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