SCHOOL CRISIS, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND MEDICAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE
PLAN
Each school will develop a written school crisis, emergency management
and medical emergency response plan as defined below. The School Board will annually
review each school’s plan and will provide copies of such plans to the chief law-
enforcement officer, the fire chief, the chief emergency medical services official,
and the emergency management official of the locality. The Department of Education
and the Virginia Center for School Safety will provide technical assistance to the
school division in the development of the plans. In developing these plans, schools
may consult the model school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency
response plan developed by the Board of Education and the Virginia Center for School
Safety.
The School Board designates the Director of Human Resources and
Pupil Personnel, or his/her designee, as emergency manager.
Each school will annually conduct school safety audits as defined
below. The results of such school safety audits will be made public within 90 days
of completion. The School Board may withhold or limit the release of any security
plans, walk-through checklists and specific vulnerability assessment components
as provided in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Va. Code § 2.2-3705.2. The
completed walk-through checklist will be made available upon request to the chief
law-enforcement officer of the locality or his designee. Each school will maintain
a copy of the school’s safety audit, which may exclude such security plans, walk-through
checklists and vulnerability assessment components, within the office of the school
principal and will make a copy of such report available for review upon written
request.
Each school shall submit a copy of its school safety audit to
the superintendent. The superintendent shall collate and submit all such school
safety audits, in the prescribed format and manner of submission, to the Virginia
Center for School Safety and shall make available upon request to the chief law-enforcement
officer of the locality the results of such audits.
The superintendent will establish a school safety audit committee
to include, if available, representatives of parents, teachers, local law-enforcement,
emergency services agencies, local community services boards, and judicial and public
safety personnel. The school safety audit committee will review the completed school
safety audits and submit any plans, as needed, for improving school safety to the
superintendent for submission to the School Board.
“School crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response
plan” means the essential procedures, operations, and assignments required to prevent,
manage, and respond to a critical event or emergency, including natural disasters
involving fire, flood, tornadoes, or other severe weather; loss or disruption of
power, water, communications or shelter; bus or other accidents; medical emergencies,
including cardiac arrest and other life threatening medical emergencies; student
or staff member deaths; explosions; bomb threats; gun, knife or other weapons threats;
spills or exposures to hazardous substances; the presence of unauthorized persons
or trespassers; the loss, disappearance or kidnapping of a student; hostage situations;
violence on school property or at school activities; incidents involving acts of
terrorism; and other incidents posing a serious threat of harm to students, personnel,
or facilities. The plan shall include a provision that the Department of Criminal
Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund shall be contacted
immediately to deploy assistance in the event of an emergency as defined in the
emergency response plan when there are victims as defined in § Va. Code § 19.2-
11.01, as well as current contact information for both.
“School safety audit” means a written assessment of the safety
conditions in each public school to (1) identify and, if necessary, develop solutions
for physical safety concerns, including building security issues and (2) identify
and evaluate any patterns of student safety concerns occurring on school property
or at school-sponsored events. Solutions and responses will include recommendations
for structural adjustments, changes in school safety procedures, and revisions to
the School Board’s standards for student conduct.
Each school will maintain records of regular safety, health and
fire inspections that have been conducted and certified by local health and fire
departments. The frequency of such inspections will be determined by the local school
board in consultation
with the local health and fire departments. In addition, the
school administration will:
1. equip
all exit doors with panic hardware as required by the Uniform Statewide Building
Code ; and
2. conduct
fire drills at least once a week during the first month of school and at least once
each month for the remainder of the school
term. No fire drills will be conducted during periods of mandatory
testing required by the Board of Education.
Evacuation routes for
students shall be posted in each room. At least one simulated
lockdown and crisis emergency evacuation activity should be conducted
early in the school year.
Each school will have contingency plans for emergencies that
include staff certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the Heimlich maneuver,
and emergency first aid.
In addition, the school administration will ensure that the school
has:
1. written
procedures to follow in emergencies such as fire, injury, illness, and violent or
threatening behavior. The plan will be outlined in
the student handbook and discussed with staff and students
during the first week of each school year;
2. space
for the proper care of students who become ill;
3. a
written procedure for responding to violent, disruptive or illegal activities by
students on school property or during a school sponsored
assistance to exit a facility.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Legal Refs: Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended,
§§ 2.2-3705.2, 22.1-279.8.
Acts 2006, c. 164.
8 VAC 20-131-260.