In occasions of disaster, households and college students look to high school leaders for stability, even when these faculties are closed as a result of catastrophe or tragedy. The current fires and flooding which have torn by way of communities throughout the nation are a tragic reminder that it will not be a query of if a disaster will happen sooner or later, however when it can occur. Faculties frequently assessment security practices and maintain drills for fireplace, evacuation, shelter in place, and different very important actions that could be required when tragedy strikes. However there’s one disaster space that isn’t frequently practiced: communication.
Whereas nearly each faculty has an emergency handbook, hardly ever do they comprise details about how the college will talk each internally and externally throughout a disaster. Luckily, heads of college can play a significant function in guaranteeing {that a} correct disaster communication plan is in place. By partnering with the advertising and marketing and communications workplace and addressing these steps prematurely, your faculty may be higher ready to speak each internally and externally when wanted.
Know your disaster communications response crew.
Most probably, there’s a plan for who’s accountable for attending to the scholars and sweeping the lecture rooms, however there isn’t typically a plan in place for speaking throughout a disaster. Along with the captains accountable for pupil security, there must also be positions decided prematurely for speaking with college students, households, and the better group. Every faculty ought to designate a crew of the highest 5 individuals known as for in each scenario, together with somebody for communication.
Most individuals instantly consider media relations, and whereas sure, it’s essential to know who will discipline media questions, disaster communication goes past that to incorporate documenting the scenario and figuring out the messaging that’s despatched out to the group. This function is commonly known as the recorder, and each emergency plan ought to record the names and call data for all accredited recorders.
A whole and thorough documentation of the method throughout a disaster may be helpful when recapping and reviewing the scenario, working with insurance coverage corporations and authorities, and figuring out the messages that have to be conveyed to the college group and past. Having one individual designated because the recorder—with a backup recorder additionally pre-determined—means different members of your disaster response crew and college know who to name and switch to at a second’s discover.
Along with a recorder, many faculties look to have backup assist for sending data out shortly; these persons are a part of your disaster communication response crew. From e-mail and social media to web site and mother or father portal updates, it’s essential that who has entry and the flexibility to make these updates—together with contact data—ought to a disaster happen outdoors of regular faculty hours.
This crew additionally must know how one can talk with one another and the place they’ll meet, assuming it’s protected. Group chat choices are essential for guaranteeing everyone seems to be on the identical web page, be it through convention calls or walkie-talkies. It’s additionally essential to find out a gathering place if the strains of communication are down, which must be stocked with crucial provides they might want.
Set a protocol for speaking.
Sometimes, individuals assume that the top of college is the spokesperson throughout a disaster, however the actuality is that the top will probably be coping with the precise scenario and can need assistance. Having a pre-planned chain of crew members who may be spokespeople—ideally members of your disaster communication response crew—permits for flexibility and consistency of message. Each member must be acquainted with outreach strategies, messaging tone and language, and capable of log into all communication providers—be sure to check these prematurely.
Put together your messaging prematurely.
Each faculty ought to assess its most-likely disaster situations. Fireplace, shelter in place, and evacuation are frequent examples, nevertheless it’s essential to determine what else might occur and what you would want to speak. Many colleges have added energetic shooter and intruder drills in addition to much less apparent conditions, resembling surprising faculty closures, delays, and early dismissals.
Climate and acts of nature could not really feel like main crises, however current occasions have confirmed they are often. Faculties must have a plan in place to deal with these conditions shortly and sometimes at odd hours of the day. Excessive warmth, snow, lightning, storms, excessive winds, and even poor air high quality are all disaster conditions that probably must be in your record, in addition to earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, and floods.
Predetermined and scripted messages provide you with time to assume throughout a disaster. Having messages pre-approved by the top of college, the board, and the communications division means that you can inform individuals of the scenario and put together them for the way you’re going to ship follow-up data with out losing time.
These communications ought to all the time embody the identify of the college and the date and time of the message. Households with youngsters at totally different faculties must know precisely who is asking and the way they’ll get extra data. Ending each scripted message with the identical line for how one can get extra data through a URL, mother or father portal, or cellphone hotline will give them a method to examine in.
Decide the instruments it’s possible you’ll want.
Understanding the conditions it’s possible you’ll probably face permits you to draft a plan for every, together with the required instruments. When your web and telephones go down unexpectedly minutes earlier than the dismissal rush, what are you going to do? Planning for one thing like this prematurely will allow you to get a message out shortly.
The established disaster headquarters must be stocked with a number of cellphone strains, exhausting wired web and wifi, a number of laptops, iPads, cell telephones, and walkie talkies to make sure that you could attain the surface world. A radio and tv with native and cable information networks may also help you monitor developments of an off-campus disaster that will relate to you and decide if networks are protecting your campus disaster scenario.
Don’t overlook to have ample charging stations with energy strips for powering a number of units directly in addition to backup vitality sources. Additional batteries and exterior chargers—together with a crank charger—may be helpful when energy is compromised, in addition to dongles and cords for connecting units to these energy sources. You’ll additionally wish to plan what to do if networks exit—so landlines, paper, and pencil provides must also be useful—in addition to flashlights in case you’re at midnight.
Know the place and whenever you’ll talk.
Speaking a transparent and constant message throughout dozens of channels could be a problem, so streamlining your efforts is essential. It’s a good suggestion to create a disaster communications touchdown web page that serves as your foremost hub for posting data, lowering the chance of lacking an outlet or posting incorrect or incomplete data in a single location. Your crew can share a singular URL resembling myschool.org/emergency on social media and your different retailers and direct all site visitors to this hub.
Not each scenario wants rapid textual content messages and emails, so it’s essential to find out what’s warranted and when. Much less pressing conditions—a college cancellation with ample discover, for instance—would possibly warrant an e-mail and web site replace solely, whereas an surprising closure or early dismissal requires cellphone calls and textual content messages to make sure that households and the group obtain data shortly.
It’s additionally essential to find out outreach frequency. A quick-moving scenario that includes the authorities would possibly warrant web site updates in your disaster hub web page each 15–half-hour and communication through e-mail and/or cellphone and textual content each 1–2 hours. A slow-developing scenario resembling a damaged water foremost would possibly want an preliminary message warning of potential closures the day earlier than, a fast replace in your web site hub a number of hours later, after which nothing till the following morning when speaking a ultimate resolution.
You can too use your emergency outreach providers to trace the success of your message and decide if some households want extra private outreach to make sure they obtained the data.
Have a continuity plan.
Guarantee you will have a plan if the college could also be closed for an prolonged interval—resembling throughout a healthcare disaster or when services are broken or destroyed. Decide how you’ll proceed speaking with households, college, and workers and how one can educate your college students remotely. Many colleges needed to scramble through the COVID-19 pandemic to supply distance studying, some extra efficiently than others. Whereas no person needs to return to these days, it’s a good suggestion to be ready by training digital assignments and assessments, on-line class discussions, and so forth. In case you are a Blackbaud buyer, these sources could also be useful.
Set expectations inside your group.
One of the simplest ways to make sure correct communication is to arrange your group. Allow them to know that you’ve an emergency response course of and check it greater than as soon as. Share the URL of your disaster hub touchdown web page and encourage households to bookmark it. As well as, inform households of your plan throughout a shelter-in-place state of affairs, the place college students will go when evacuating the campus, and the way they’ll reunite with their youngsters in every case.
If households know what to do, the place to get data, and the way you’re going to speak, they are going to really feel extra assured throughout a disaster and will probably be much less inclined to inundate the college’s cellphone strains.
Whereas nobody can really anticipate each want throughout a disaster, planning for correct communication each internally and externally could make all of the distinction.
This weblog was initially printed in 2021 and up to date in 2025.