School Climate & Safety Report Roundup

Disaster Preparedness

By Sarah D. Sparks — August 31, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Released in time for the five-year anniversaries of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their destruction of Gulf Coast schools, Save the Children’s second annual state-preparedness survey found only 12 states have in place basic safeguards to protect children during disasters.

The group queried states on whether they require all schools and licensed child-care providers to have four elements in place the organization considers essential to emergency planning for children: a written evacuation plan to move children at the school or center to a safe location; a written plan to notify parents or guardians of the emergency and reunite them with an evacuated child; a written emergency plan that includes procedures for students with special needs; and a school emergency plan that accounts for different types of disasters the school might encounter, including natural disasters or terrorist acts.

The 12 states with all those elements in place represent an increase from 2009, when only seven met that criteria. States most often left out requirements to plan for protecting special-needs students during emergencies; only 18 states included that element.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the September 01, 2010 edition of Education Week as Disaster Preparedness

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety What the Research Says Restrictions on Suspending Students From School Show Evidence of Being Effective
New research suggests restrictions on exclusionary discipline can work with support.
5 min read
Danny Perez, a 7th grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, Calif., faces a court of his peers for getting involved in a fight. Kristy Treewater, the school’s assistant principal, sits by his side to monitor the student-run session.
Danny Perez, a 7th grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, Calif., faces a court of his peers in 2012 for getting involved in a fight. Kristy Treewater, the school’s assistant principal, sits next to him. Interventions like these, called "restorative justice," have gained popularity as an alternative to suspensions.
Sarah Rice for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Teachers With Guns: District by District, a Push to Arm Educators Is Growing
The number of districts with armed educators is rising. An inside look at one of them.
12 min read
Educators with the Benjamin Logan Local School District receive training from the Logan County Sheriff's office to join the district's armed response team in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on June 26, 2023.
Educators with the Benjamin Logan Local School District receive training from the Logan County Sheriff's Office to join the district's Armed Response Team in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on June 26, 2023.
Eli Hiller for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Let's Talk About When Cars Need to Stop for School Buses
A refresher course on the rules of the road involving stopped school buses.
1 min read
Collage of school bus, cars, stop sign and a neighborhood map.
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
School Climate & Safety Opinion School Police Officers Should Do More Than Just Surveil and Control. Here’s How
SROs should be integrated into schools as a means to support students and create a safe, humanizing environment.
H. Richard Milner IV
5 min read
opinion sro school police 80377388 01
Dynamic Graphics/Getty