The Site Emergency Plan Process

Site Emergency Plans are developed and maintained by each site. Here are some key points the process of writing and updating these plans:

• Development and maintenance of a Site Emergency Plan is the responsibility of Site Councils. This responsibility may be delegated to a School Safety Planning Committee, under the direction of the Site Council and Principal.

• Each Site Emergency Plan must be reviewed and revised at least annually or more often if necessary.

Preparedness shall be supported by appropriate drills and training so that all participants are familiar with their responsibilities.

• Emergency preparedness depends on close cooperation and planning with police, fire, civic emergency agencies, and school/parent groups. Information regarding school district emergency procedures must be disseminated to parents and community members.

• Overall, emergency preparedness depends upon review by school personnel and students and periodic communication with all citizens of the school community at yearly intervals or more often if required.

California Senate Bill 187 (1997)/Education Code Section 35294 requires Comprehensive School Safety Plans to be written and maintained at individual schools:

35294.1(b)(1)...the school site council...shall write and develop a comprehensive school safety plan relevant to the needs
and resources of that particular school.

35294.1(b)(2). The school site council may delegate this responsibility to a school safety planning committee...

What are school site councils? The school principal, staff, teachers, student government, and parents.

Section 35294 requires involvement of key community members, including the local mayor, representatives of the local school employee organizations, and recommends involvement of other members of the local community.

The following table describes how the basic safety plan requirements are supported by individual schools, school districts and the County Office of Education (COE):

School Safety Requirement	School Site Responsibility	District/COE Responsibility
Establish disaster preparedness and response procedures	Incorporate district disaster planning	Set and provide policies to schools
Hold a public meeting	Announce and conduct meetings at school site prior to submitting plan to district	Develop a district calendar of dates and times ofr all school site public meetings.

School Safety Requirement

School Site

Responsibility

District/COE

Responsibility

Establish disaster preparedness and response procedures

Incorporate district disaster planning

Set and provide policies to schools

Hold a public meeting

Announce and conduct meetings at school site prior to submitting plan to district

Develop a district calendar of dates and times ofr all school site public meetings.

School Safety Requirements re: Emergency Preparedness and Site Plan Preparation

Adapted from: http://www.cde.ca.gov/spbranch/safety/policies/sb187chart.asp

Helping site councils

1997 AB 1253 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/97-98/bill/asm/ab_1251-1300/ab_1253_bill_19970228_introduced.html

From legislative Digest...

This bill would establish the Comprehensive Schoolsite Safety Plan
Program as a 2-year pilot program for the purpose of developing a
model program for the development and establishment of comprehensive
schoolsite safety plans in school districts. School districts would
be authorized to submit applications to conduct a 2-year pilot
program, and would be required to submit a comprehensive school
safety plan as a part of the application.