- District updates and implements new crisis and safety plan
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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Juab School District has a new crisis and safety plan in place.
"The old plan was pre-Columbine," said Jim Shank, superintendent.
J. Berra Engineering offered a software program which the district purchased, he said.
"We now own the software," said Shank. "The program can be adapted as needed."
Each school has a bright red binder, that came as part of the purchase of the program, that can be easily accessed, he said.
The program features the preparedness and response to 40 different campus emergencies.
Besides its innovative crisis management procedures, the Crisis Management Plan for Schools features the unique quality of being visual, using numerous icons, arrows, and flowcharts.
It also features numerically prioritized step-by-step, color-coded actions that each responder must take in response to emergency incidents.
"This visual approach optimizes the highest level of crisis response efficacy," said Shank.
The process is so unique that J. Berra Engineering has patented it.
Everyone knows that color communicates, states the plan.
The end-effect of this user-friendly approach is that the Crisis Management Plan for Schools is extremely expeditious during the stress of a crisis, far easier than having to wade through long passages of written text.
"Our former plan was developed back when things were different," said Shank.
This was the same program as the one used in the Nebo School District where Tracy Olsen, board member, works.
In the Table of Contents for the Crisis Management Plan for Schools, the structure of the entire book may be viewed at a glance. In the Index for Section 3, which is the heart of the plan, the 40 crisis responses that are covered can be seen.
The crisis responses are grouped according to category, making them easier to locate.
This plan is fully copyrighted and the format is patented.
Developed by J. Berra Engineering in 1995, clients now number over 12 percent of the 15,000 plus school districts in the country, including the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) and all of their domestic schools.
"What usually happens," said Shank, "is that law enforcement comes in and, working with the principal, takes over the situation."
The current 5th Edition of the Crisis Management Plan for Schools includes the response procedures that are compliant with the NIMS-National Incident Management System and the ICS-Incident Command System as initiated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5.
On February 28, 2003, the President of the United States issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5 (HSPD-5) called the "Management of Domestic Incidents," which directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer a National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NIMS system includes the ICS system.
NIMS provides a consistent management structure to enable Federal, state, local, and tribal governments, private-sectors, and nongovernmental organizations to work together to: "prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from, domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity, including acts of catastrophic terrorism."
NIMS is now the first-ever standardized approach to incident management and response. It ensures that all organizations work together during domestic incidents.
School Districts are included in the definition of "local government" by the 2002 Homeland Security Act.
The plan is not meant to be a stand-alone. The intention is for it to be used in conjunction with city, county, and state agency plans in order to be compliant with the NIMS mandate.
"Under this plan," said Shank, "the principal at each school becomes the facilitator."
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