ACAB-AP: Emergency Plans and Drills
EMERGENCY PLANS
The intent of an emergency operations plan (EOP) is to provide an overview of the school district’s approach to emergency operations. It describes the district, its emergency response policies and procedures, and assigns tasks. West Fargo Public Schools’ EOP provides school officials with the current best practices that will help serve as the foundation for the more operationally-oriented flipcharts. The EOP adopted and in use by West Fargo Public Schools was drafted in collaboration with Cass-Clay Unified School Response (CCUSR). The EOP provided by CCUSR is based on current, region-specific best practices in the area of school safety and security, and was developed with guidance from federal, state and local legislation.
The hazard/threat specific annexes included in the EOP describe strategies or procedures for managing a specific hazard. The general guidance for these annexes is the use of the all-hazards approach in a school setting. It is not the intent of the annexes to cover all possible hazards that could be experienced in a school; the hazards listed are the most common. The organization of the annexes follows the order of likelihood established by the most-recent community threat assessment.
Creation of an emergency operations plan does not guarantee that a trained responder will be present, able to properly respond to the situation, and/or able to properly administer first aid. Proper implementation of the district EOP can prevent or reduce emergency-related losses. However, there is no guarantee that the EOP provides a perfect management response to an emergency, nor is it expected to address every possible scenario that could occur. A spirit of volunteerism and community among district employees and stakeholders will result in a more coordinated effort toward supporting emergency response.
Dissemination
Threat response and emergency evacuation plans are exempt under the North Dakota open records law and will only be disseminated to individuals with an actual need to know. The West Fargo Public Schools’ EOP does include a list of specific community partners that shall receive a copy of said EOP.
EMERGENCY DRILLS
Drills and exercises will be conducted periodically to test the effectiveness of the EOP and other emergency documents, but also to help students learn the proper course of action in an emergency. Students and parents must understand that this sort of preparation is necessary and is conducted for their safety and wellbeing.
The Superintendent shall ensure all required emergency and disaster drills are conducted in accordance with applicable law, including but not limited to, state law and city ordinances. In West Fargo Public Schools, each school facility shall conduct no less than one safety-related drill each month that school is in session (at least nine total). Schools should complete a mix of lockdown, shelter-in-place and fire evacuation drills. Schools shall document the date and time of such drills, as well as the results of any formal or informal evaluation of the drill. The district will conduct and evaluate one drill per year at each school facility. On a more infrequent basis, schools may also be asked to participate in a large-scale exercise with various community partners.
Adopted: 10/27/15
Reviewed:
Revised: