Emergency operations plans (EOPs) define the scope of preparedness and incident management activities necessary for your school. A complete EOP provides an overview of the school’s preparedness and response strategies and includes annexes to describe specific procedures.

Developing a comprehensive EOP includes preparation, review, and approval. At the completion of this lesson you should be able to:

• Describe each of the components of the traditional emergency operations plan (EOP).
• Identify the steps to approve and disseminate the school emergency operations plan (EOP).

The previous lesson described the first two steps in the planning process: form a planning team and understand the situation. This lesson describes CPG steps 3, 4, and 5:

• Determine goals and objectives for the plan,
• Develop the plan, and
• Prepare, review, and approve the plan.

Once the school planning team has identified and analyzed the school hazards, they are ready to prepare goals for the school EOP. These goals:

• Address what the school will do when something happens.
• Ensure the plan focuses on identified priorities.
• Are used to determine if the plan is effective.

Sample Goal Statements

• Protect the safety and well-being of students and staff.
• Promote a culture of preparedness so that students and staff know what to do in an emergency.
• Establish command and control of an emergency situation until first responders arrive.
• Communicate effectively with parents before, during, and after an emergency.
• Restore academic programs and services as soon as possible after an emergency.
• Provide crisis support to students and staff after an emergency situation.
• Identify and implement lessons learned following an emergency.

After developing plan goals, the planning team:

• Reviews the identified hazards,
• Develops alternatives to address each hazard, and
• Recommends the best solution.

The result of this step is an outline for the school’s EOP.

With an outline of what the plan should include, the planning team begins the process of writing the plan. This lesson will describe preparing, reviewing, and approving the traditional functional EOP, which includes:

• The basic plan: Describes expected hazards, outlines roles and responsibilities, and explains how the school keeps the plan current.
• The functional annexes: Describe procedures and missions for many hazards.
• The hazard-specific annexes: Describe strategies for managing specific hazards.

The school EOP should be written:

• In plain English, 
• Without jargon,
• With minimal use of acronyms,
• With short sentences, and
• In active voice.

The EOP should provide detail that is appropriate to the target audience and the likelihood of the situation. It should also provide guidance for carrying out common tasks as well as enough insight into intent and vision so that responders can handle unexpected events. Plans written for schools with high staff turnover may require additional detail, including small maps, flowcharts, or checklists.

Identifying the necessary sections and contents is only one part of developing the school EOP. Plans must also be written to be user-friendly. School administrators and staff are more likely to use a plan when information is organized logically and easy to read.

Ensure that the school EOP is:

• Organized.
• Can users find what they need?
• Is all the information relevant?
• Is the plan formatted clearly?    
• Is the content presented clearly?
• Sequenced correctly.
• Can users understand the rationale for the sequencing?
• Are users able to scan for information they need?
• Consistent.
• Does each section use the same logical progression, or do users have to reorient themselves?
• Adaptable and compatible.
• Is the information easy to use during unanticipated situations?
• Can the information be applied or adapted to effectively respond to each unique situation?
• Does the format promote or hinder coordination with local response agencies and personnel?

The first element of the basic plan, Purpose, Scope, Situation Overview, and Assumptions, provides a rationale for the development, maintenance, and implementation of the school EOP. It includes four components:

The Concept of Operations (CONOPS) section explains in broad terms the intent of the EOP. The CONOPS presents a clear picture of the sequence and scope of the planned emergency response, what should happen, when, and at whose direction.

The Organization and Assignment of Responsibilities section establishes an operational organization that is charged to respond to all hazards. It includes a list of tasks to be performed by position and organization.

Although the primary purpose of the EOP is incident management, your school’s EOP may identify pre-incident roles and responsibilities for prevention, protection, and mitigation activities.

The Organization and Assignment of Responsibilities section should also describe incident management roles.  These should be filled by school personnel and/or first responders based on the event or incident and the organization with the authority and expertise to manage the incident. These roles and responsibilities align with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for better coordination with first responders, law enforcement, and emergency management officials.

Lesson 6 presents more information on NIMS and the Incident Command System (ICS).

Click on this link for the Staff Skills Survey to assist in identifying staff that would be appropriate for each role.

The Direction, Control, and Coordination section of the basic plan outlines the ways in which schools will coordinate with outside agencies and how the school EOP fits into other, related EOPs.

It is important that the school planning team coordinates with local law enforcement, fire, and emergency management to develop a plan that operates in conjunction with other local community EOPs.

The Communications section of your school EOP describes a strategy for informing school staff and students of what is happening and what to do during an emergency, and also for communicating with persons outside the school building regarding an emergency situation.

Click on this link for examples of external communications activities for your school. 

Click on this link for sample statements to the media.

The Communications section identifies strategies for external communication—with parents, the media, school board, and emergency responders.

Before an incident your school should:

• Conduct outreach to explain the EOP and describe procedures to parents.
• Identify a Public Information Officer as a single point to communicate with the media and to control rumors and develop standard templates for statements to the media.
• Develop partnerships with parent volunteers for assistance during an incident.
• Identify systems that will be used to provide communication.
• Develop procedures with emergency responders for transferring command.
• Identify communication systems that work within the school and with other agencies.

During an incident your EOP should describe how and when to activate communication systems that provide information to parents.

Following an incident your school may work with parents and emergency responders to identify lessons learned and next steps.

Now that we’ve reviewed the elements that make up the basic plan, let’s focus on the next component of the EOP—functional annexes.

While the basic plan provides overarching information on emergency operations, the functional annexes describe the policies, roles, responsibilities, and processes for a specific emergency function that can be applied to different hazards. For example, parent notification procedures for school closure will be the same for all incidents involving the closing of your school—e.g., inclement weather, pandemic flu, power outage.

The planning team identifies the functions that are critical to successful emergency response. These functions become the subjects of separate functional annexes, which describe:

• Situations under which the procedures should be used.
• Who has the authority to activate the procedures.
• Specific actions to be taken when the procedures are implemented.
• Procedures for populations with functional needs and special situations (e.g., off-campus events, and students or staff with functional needs).

Functional annexes fall into three categories: response procedures, continuity of operations (COOP) procedures, and recovery procedures.

Click on this link for the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101 content guide for functional annexes.

These annexes contain detailed descriptions of the methods followed for critical operational functions during emergency operations. Functional annexes support the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) as they do hazard-specific annexes. There are core functional support activities that should be incorporated, and specific functional support activities that support incident response. The essence of these support functions should be incorporated into plans, rather than stand alone.

 Transportation

• Describe alternative transportation solutions that can be implemented when systems or infrastructure are damaged, unavailable, or overwhelmed.

 Communications

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to manage communications between the on-scene personnel/agencies (e.g., radio frequencies/tactical channels, cell phones, data links, command post liaisons, communications vehicle/van) in order to establish and maintain a common operating picture of the incident.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to identify and overcome communications shortfalls (e.g., personnel with incompatible equipment) with the use of alternative methods (e.g., Amateur Radio Emergency Services/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service at the command post/off-site locations, CB radios).
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to manage communications between the on-scene and off-site personnel/agencies (e.g., shelters, hospitals, emergency management agency).
• Describe how communications are made accessible to individuals with communication disabilities working in emergency operations, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken by an emergency operations center to support and coordinate communications between the on- and off-scene personnel and agencies.
• Describe/identify the interoperable communications plan and compatible frequencies used during a response (e.g., who can talk to whom, including contiguous jurisdictions and private agencies).
• Describe how 24-hour communications are provided and maintained.

 Damage Assessment

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to conduct and coordinate damage assessments.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to collect, organize, and report damage information to county, State, or Federal operations centers within the first 12 to 36 hours of the disaster/emergency.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to request supplemental State/Federal assistance through the State emergency management agency.
• Include copies of the damage assessment forms used locally (e.g., State-adopted or State-recommended emergency management agency’s damage and needs assessment form or a county equivalent). Note: These may be attached as a tab to the plan.

 Debris Management

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to coordinate the debris collection and removal process (e.g., gather and recycle materials, establish temporary storage sites, sort/haul debris).
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to inspect and arrange for the inspection and subsequent disposal of contaminated food supplies.
• Identify the agencies likely to be used to provide technical assistance on the debris removal process (e.g., State environmental protection agency, State department of health, State department of agriculture, local and surrounding county health departments).
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to condemn, demolish, and dispose of structures that present a safety hazard.

 Direction, Control, Coordination

Initial Notification

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to receive and document the initial notification that an emergency has occurred.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to coordinate, manage, and disseminate notifications effectively to alert/dispatch response and support agencies (e.g., 911 centers, individual fire/police dispatch offices, call trees) under all hazards and conditions.
• Describe the use of Emergency Condition/Action Levels in the initial notification process (e.g., Snow Emergency Levels 1–3, Chemical Levels 1–3, Crisis Stages 1–4) where defined by statute, authority, or other guidance.

Incident Assessment

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to gather essential information and assess the immediate risks posed by the emergency.
  Describe how the initial assessment is disseminated/shared in order to make protective action decisions and establish response priorities.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to monitor the movement and future effects that may result from the emergency.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to implement the Incident Command System (ICS) and coordinate response operations.
• Describe how/where an incident command post will be established and how it will be identified during the emergency (e.g., green light, flag, radio call).

Incident Command

• Describe the process used to coordinate activities between the incident command post and an activated emergency operations center (EOC), including how/when an Incident Commander can request the activation of an EOC.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to coordinate direct communications between the on-scene responders, as well as with the off-scene agencies that have a response role (e.g., hospital, American Red Cross).
• Describe the process the Incident Commander will use to secure additional resources/support when local assets are exhausted or become limited, including planned State, Federal, and private assets.
• Describe the process the Incident Commander will use to coordinate and integrate the unplanned arrival of individuals and volunteer groups into the response system and to clarify their limits on liability protection.

 Emergency Operations Center

Note: EOC functions may be addressed in Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)/Standard Operating Guidelines (SOG). If a separate SOP/SOG is used, it should be identified in the EOP.

• Describe the purpose and functions of an EOC during an emergency or declared disaster.
• Describe/identify under what conditions the school will activate a primary and/or alternate EOC and who makes this determination.
• Identify the primary and alternate sites that will be used as an EOC for the school.
• Describe the process used to activate the primary or alternate EOC (e.g., staff notification, equipment setup), including the process for moving from one EOC to another.
• Identify who is in charge of the EOC and describe how operations will be managed in the EOC.
• Describe/identify the EOC staff and equipment requirements necessary for an EOC (e.g., first response liaisons, elected or appointed officials, support agencies, communications, administrative support).
• Describe the EOC’s ability to manage an emergency response that lasts longer than 24 hours (e.g., staffing needs, shift changes, resource needs, feeding, alternate power).
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to transition from response to recovery operations.
• Describe the process used to deactivate/close the EOC (e.g., staff releases, equipment cleanup, documentation).
• Identify the lead official and at least two alternates responsible for staffing each key position at the primary EOC, as well as the alternates (if different) to be consistent with NIMS.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to routinely brief senior officials not present in the EOC on the emergency situation (e.g., governor, commissioner, administrative judge, mayor, city council, trustees) and to authorize emergency actions (e.g., declare an emergency, request State and Federal assistance, purchase resources).
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to manage public information.
• Provide a diagram of the primary and alternate EOCs (e.g., locations, floor plans, displays) and identify and describe the critical communications equipment available/needed (e.g., phone numbers, radio frequencies, faxes).
• Provide copies of specific forms or logs to be used by EOC personnel.

 Public Health 

• Describe the agencies and alternate methods used to provide potable water, bulk water, and temporary water distribution systems to the school when the water systems are not functioning (e.g., private sources, boil orders, private wells).
• Describe the agencies and methods used to provide alternate sources for human waste disposal (e.g., arrange portable latrines, encourage sharing with those who have their own septic systems).
• Identify the lead agency for providing health and medical support to individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.
• Describe the mechanisms or processes to effectively identify children who will need additional assistance, as well as individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, with their specific health-related needs in advance of, during, and following an emergency.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to secure medical records to enable children with disabilities and/or other special health care needs, as well as individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, to receive health care and sustained rehabilitation in advance of, during, and following an emergency.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to assess and provide mental health services for those impacted by the disaster.
• Identify potential sources for medical and general health supplies that will be needed during a disaster (e.g., medical equipment, pharmaceutical supplies, laboratories, toxicologists). Note: This information could be maintained under a separate tab or as part of a comprehensive resource manual.
• Describe the method by which public safety and security resources will be provided to support incident operations, including threat or pre-incident and post-incident situations.

 Emergency Public Information

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to provide continuous and accessible public information about the disaster (e.g., media briefings, press releases, cable interruptions, text messages, door-to-door warnings), secondary effects, and recovery activities.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to ensure that information provided by all sources includes the content necessary to enable reviewers to determine its authenticity and potential validity.
• Identify and describe plans, programs, and systems to control rumors by correcting misinformation rapidly.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to inform individuals with sensory, intellectual, or cognitive disabilities; individuals with limited English proficiency; and others with access and functional needs.
• Describe the role of a public information officer and the actions this person will take to coordinate public information releases (e.g., working with media at the scene, using a Joint Information Center, coordinating information among agencies/elected and appointed officials).
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to manage rumor control on- and off-scene (e.g., monitoring AM/FM radio and television broadcasts).
• List the local media contacts and describe their abilities to provide warnings.

 Population Protection

This annex describes the processes for implementing and supporting protective actions taken by the public.

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to coordinate evacuations and sheltering-in-place for all segments of the school population, including individuals with disabilities, and others with access and functional needs.
• Describe the protocols and criteria used to decide when to recommend evacuation or sheltering-in-place.
• Describe the conditions necessary to initiate an evacuation or sheltering-in-place and identify who has the authority to initiate such action.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to conduct the evacuation and to provide security for the evacuation area.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to perform advanced/early evacuation, which is often necessary to accommodate children and others with mobility issues.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to track unaccompanied minors and to reunite children with their families.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to protect target at-risk groups and/or facilities (e.g., racial, ethnic, religious) in the event of a terrorism alert.
• Describe the plan for receiving those evacuated as a result of hazards in neighboring jurisdictions, including household pets and service animals.
• Describe the methods used to keep children and others with disabilities with their caregivers, mobility devices, other durable medical equipment, and/or service animals during an evacuation.
• Describe the protocols and criteria that will be used to recommend termination of sheltering-in-place.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to identify and assist moving evacuees, including assisting individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to ensure the availability of sufficient and timely accessible transportation to evacuate children and other individuals with access and functional needs whose families do not have their own transportation resources.

 Continuity of Operations (COOP)

Note: Continuity of operations (COOP) may have a separate plan from the EOP. If a separate COOP plan is used, it should be identified in the EOP.

• Describe plans for establishing recovery time objectives, recovery point objectives, or recovery priorities for each essential function.
• Identify personnel and/or teams needed to perform essential functions.
• Describe orders of succession and delegations of authority.
• Describe continuity/alternate facilities and continuity communications methods.
• Describe plans for vital records and human capital management.
• Describe plans for devolution or direction and control.
• Describe plans for reconstitution of operations.
• Identify applicable training and exercise programs.
• Describe the processes for evaluations, after-action reports, and lessons learned.
• Describe the process and criteria for corrective action plans.

 Warning

• Describe the use of emergency condition levels in the public notification process (e.g., snow emergencies, hazardous materials incidents, nuclear power plant incidents).
• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to alert individuals with sensory or cognitive disabilities and others with access and functional needs in the workplace, in public venues, and in their homes.

Financial Management

• Identify and describe the actions that will be taken to ensure that funds are provided expeditiously and that financial operations are conducted in accordance with established law, policies, regulations, and standards.

Worker Safety and Health

• Describe the processes to ensure response and recovery worker safety and health during incident response and recovery.

Prevention and Protection Activities
This annex describes the methods to be followed to conduct basic prevention and protection activities.

Prevention Activities: This process is used to identify prevention activities designed to reduce the risk of terrorism.

• Describe the integration of prevention activities in support of response and recovery operations.

Protection Activities: This process is used to identify protection activities designed to reduce the risk of terrorism.

• Describe the integration of protection activities in support of response and recovery operations.  

Source: Adapted from Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101 Version 2.0, November 2010, Appendix C

Response procedures are standardized, specific actions for school staff and students to take for a variety of hazards, threats, or incidents.

Examples of response procedures to include in your school EOP are:

• Drop, cover, and hold
• Evacuation
• Reverse evacuation
• Shelter-in-place
• Lockdown
• Lockout
• Reunification
• Communications

Developing and practicing response procedures enables school staff and students to quickly and safely react in a variety of situations.

Recovery procedures define actions taken that are an extension of the response. Recovery procedures include Continuity of Operations (COOP) procedures that are essential functions taken immediately after an incident when normal operations have been severely disrupted.

Your EOP should include recovery procedures that address:

• Academic recovery
• Physical recovery
• Business recovery
• Emotional and psychological recovery

Click on this link for the FEMA Publication 229: Disaster Assistance – A Guide to Recovery Programs for information on potential programs of assistance after a disaster.

Strategies for academic recovery include:

• Continuing instruction, using such strategies as:
  • Mailing lessons to students.
  • Using telecommunications (e.g., local television or radio stations, text messages, emails, Web portals).
  • Providing tutors for homebound students.
  • Rearranging the syllabus or tests until needed facilities are available.
• Communicating with parents regarding changes to schedules, updates on classroom locations, and information on the status of the school building. Keeping parents informed is critical to maintaining their support.
• Reevaluating the curriculum and determining what topics can be delayed or discarded. Contact the State department of education to see what flexibility may be available to local school districts.

Physical recovery procedures include:

• Where to relocate classrooms and administrative operations. Consider locations for both short-term and long-term operations, and the decision-making process for selecting a location.
• How transportation and food services will resume. Consider how students will get to the school if an important road is damaged in an incident.
• How to obtain classroom equipment, books, and materials in advance of relocating, either to a new temporary or permanent location or moving back to a former, restored location.
• How to restore buildings and grounds (e.g., debris removal, repairing, repainting, and/or re-landscaping).

Business recovery procedures should designate:

• People responsible for making the decision to close schools, or send students/staff to alternate locations. Identify ways to convey that information to parents, students, school staff, and district officials.
• Systems for rapid contract execution after an incident. The period after a school building has been destroyed is not the ideal time to start negotiating contracts on temporary building space.
• A system for registering students (out of district or into alternative schools). Displaced students may be missing immunization records, proof of residency, or cumulative folders and permanent school records. If a nearby school district is able to reopen their schools sooner, parents may want to enroll their children in that district.
• A place to keep redundant records. Keep important records in another location. Be sure to include a copy of the school’s insurance policy, and keep the policy current.
• A line of succession, including who is responsible for restoring which business functions for schools/districts. Restore administrative and recordkeeping functions such as payroll, accounting, and personal records.

While damage to the infrastructure may be most obvious, medical and psychological issues resulting from the incident may be harder to recognize and more critical to address. The psychological healing annex should address:

• Disruption of regular school functions.
• Psychological injury to students and/or staff.
• Pressure from the media. Reporters may try to interview parents, students, and school personnel after an incident. Schools should provide guidelines on how to handle the media and remind parents and students that they have a right to privacy and are not obligated to talk to the media. A school-appointed media liaison can address media questions and handle any difficulties.

Click on this link for more information on planning for the psychological aftermath of a school tragedy.

School personnel can facilitate psychological healing among those who have been affected by a school emergency by:

• Providing as much factual information as possible about what has happened and what can be expected in the future (including the stages of grieving, if appropriate).
• Avoiding additional changes to set routines.
• Providing an accepting atmosphere in which students and staff can voice concerns, feelings, and fears.
• Providing outlets for the expression of emotions.

Your school EOP may include provisions for a crisis response team to help in the healing process. The decision to activate and deploy the crisis response team should be included in school EOP procedures.

Click on this link for more information on crisis response teams.

After an incident, expect a wide range of grieving behavior—from screaming, displays of anger, sobbing, silence, or being apparently unaffected. Faculty, staff, and administrators are not immune from grief. School personnel should expect and accept grief in whatever forms it takes and encourage the natural expression of grief from all who are affected.

A crisis response team can help in the healing process by:

• Reducing fear, including addressing students’ fears that the incident may occur again.
• Facilitating grieving, including formulating a policy on funerals and other memorials, helping plan incident- and age-appropriate student activities, and obtaining as needed the services of trained counselors and other experts outside the school.
• Supporting parents, including answering questions about the incident and school response, and offering advice on addressing children’s needs.
• Promoting education, including calling in substitute teachers as needed.
• Planning for post incident response actions, including identifying and contacting any at-risk students, holding meetings with parents or the community, and revising the school EOP.

Crisis response team members:

• Are trained to handle emotional response issues.
• Have the ability and authority to make decisions.

Members of this team should include the school counselor and others who are:

• Respected within the school and the community.
• Sensitive to student, staff, and community needs.
• Calm and able to make decisions in stressful situations.
• Community mental health professionals.

We’ve now reviewed two of the three components of the school’s EOP—the basic plan and functional annexes. The last component is hazard-specific annexes.

Hazard-specific annexes describe emergency response procedures for a specific hazard. They focus on the special planning needs generated by the one hazard. For example, your school may have a hazard-specific annex that addresses the unique procedures used to respond to specific hazardous materials used at your school.

To identify hazard-specific annexes, the planning team reviews the hazards they identified (CPG Step 2: Understand the Situation) and identifies any that require unique procedures.

The hazard-specific annex:

• Should not repeat information in the basic plan or functional annexes.
• Is only needed when a hazard presents a unique challenge.
• Includes:
  • Where and how the hazard will impact the school.
  • Planning, mitigation, and response needs for the hazard.
  • Legal requirements directed by local, State, or Federal laws.

Your school may want to include hazard-specific annexes for:

• Pandemic flu,
• Flood,
• Earthquake,
• Hazardous materials, and
• School violence.

Click on each type of hazard for information you can use to create a hazard-specific annex for that hazard.

These are examples of hazard-specific annexes, your school or district may identify others.

Click on this link for the CPG content guide for hazard-specific annexes.

These annexes describe emergency response strategies that apply to a specific hazard.

Schools may integrate hazard-specific information into functional annexes if they believe such integration would make the plan easier to read and use. Conversely, the unique functional needs generated by the hazard should be addressed in the hazard/threat annex.

Schools may find it appropriate to address specific hazards or threats in completely separate and stand-alone plans. In this case, the EOP must specifically reference those plans and provide a brief summary of how the EOP is to be coordinated with the stand-alone plans.

Some hazards have unique planning requirements directed by specific State and Federal laws. The local emergency management agency must review those requirements and determine how the EOP can best address and meet those legal requirements.

 Human-Caused Hazards
These are disasters created by man, either intentionally or by accident.

• Civil Unrest
  This section of the annex should address the hazard-specific methods the school uses to prepare for and respond to civil unrest emergencies/disasters. The section should also identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from civil unrest emergencies (e.g., riots, school shootings). 
• Terrorism
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to prevent, protect against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist acts. The attacks covered should include, but not be limited to, attacks involving weapons of mass destruction, such as CBRNE incidents. Note: Some State emergency management agencies or homeland security offices have developed specific guidance for this planning element. Specific planning criteria are established in that guidance, and it must be reviewed in order to develop the terrorism plan. Planners should ensure that the EOP is compliant with any State, territorial, or tribal terrorism planning criteria.

 Natural Hazards  

• Biological Incidents
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from epidemic diseases and biological incidents (e.g., West Nile virus, hoof and mouth disease, smallpox). Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how biological incidents are likely to impact the school.
• Droughts
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from droughts (e.g., water conservation, public water outages, and wildfire issues). Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how droughts are likely to impact the school.
• Earthquakes
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from earthquakes. Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how earthquakes are likely to impact the school. 
• Flood/Dam Failures
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from flood/dam emergencies/disasters (e.g., flash floods, inundation floods, floods resulting from dam failures or ice jams). Include a hazard summary that discusses where (e.g., 100-year and common floodplains) and how floods are likely to impact the school.
• Hurricanes/Severe Storms
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from hurricanes/severe storms. Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how hurricanes/severe storms are likely to impact the school. 
• Tornadoes
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from tornadoes. Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how tornadoes are likely to impact the school (e.g., historical/seasonal trends, damage levels F1 through F5).
• Winter Storms
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from winter storms (e.g., blizzards, ice jams, ice storms). Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how winter storms are likely to impact the school.

 Technological Hazards
These incidents involve materials created by man and that pose a unique hazard to the general public and environment. The school needs to consider incidents that are caused by accident (e.g., mechanical failure, human mistake), result from an emergency caused by another hazard (e.g., flood, storm), or are caused intentionally.

• Hazardous Materials
  This section of the annex should address the hazard-specific procedures and methods used to prepare for and respond to releases that involve hazardous materials that are manufactured, stored, or used at fixed facilities or in transport (if not addressed in a functional annex). This section may include materials that exhibit incendiary or explosive properties when released. Note: Some States have laws that require each Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) to develop a Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan on this topic. Some States have laws requiring the local emergency management agency to incorporate the LEPC’s plan into the emergency management agency’s planning and preparedness activities. Specific planning criteria established by a State Emergency Response Commission must be reviewed and addressed in order to develop the LEPC plan. 
• Lethal Chemical Agents and Munitions
  This section of the annex should identify and describe the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from lethal chemical agent and munitions incidents (e.g., sarin, mustard, and VX). Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how chemical agent incidents are likely to impact the school.
• Radiological Incidents
  This section of the annex should address the hazard-specific methods to prepare for and respond to releases that involve radiological materials that are at licensed facilities or in transport.
• Describe/identify the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from radiological hazards. Include a hazard analysis summary that discusses where/how radiological materials are likely to impact the school, including incidents that occur at fixed facilities, along transportation routes, or as fallout from a nuclear weapon.

 Additional Hazards (as Applicable)
Add additional annexes to include other hazards identified through the school’s hazard analysis (e.g., mass casualty, plane crash, train crash/derailment, school emergencies).

• Describe/identify the school’s specific concerns, capabilities, training, agencies, and resources that will be used to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from other hazards as defined in the school’s hazard analysis.

Source: Adapted from Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101 Version 2.0, November 2010, Appendix C

CPG Step 5 includes writing, reviewing, approving, and disseminating the plan. We have reviewed what to include when writing each of the plan components—basic plan, functional annexes, and hazard-specific annexes. Now let’s review what is involved in the other steps:

• Review the plan.
• Obtain plan approval.
• Disseminate the plan.

After writing the plan, the planning team should review the plan for:

• Adequacy.
  • Does the plan identify critical tasks?
  • Are the plan’s assumptions valid and reasonable?
  • Does the plan comply with guidance?
• Feasibility.
  • Does the school have the resources to fulfill the tasks identified in the plan?
  • Does the plan identify where the school will obtain resources outside of the school’s capabilities?
• Acceptability.
  • Does the plan thoroughly address the identified hazards and threats?
  • Is the plan consistent with legal requirements?
• Completeness.
  • Does the school plan include all the tasks to be accomplished?
  • Does it address staff and students with functional needs?
  • Does it provide a complete picture of what should happen, when, and at whose direction?
• Compliance.
  • Does the school plan comply with laws and regulations?

Once the planning team has reviewed the plan, other stakeholders should be included in the review and approval process. The review and approval process should aim to gain the widest acceptance for the plan and include agencies with emergency or homeland security responsibilities.

Consider the following stakeholders for your review and approval process:

• School district officials/employees
• Local fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and/or emergency management
• Elected officials
• School board members
• State department of education
• State director of homeland security or emergency management
• Public works
• Other State and/or Federal officials

Once approved the EOP should include an approval and implementation page with a delegation of authority, a date, and signature by the senior official

Once the plan has been reviewed and approved by stakeholders, the plan should be presented to the appropriate officials for formal promulgation. Then the plan can be distributed.

The school should maintain a record of the people and organizations that received a copy of the plan. “Sunshine” laws may require that a copy of the plan be posted on a Web site or some publicly accessible location; if so, sensitive information should first be removed.

After distribution, the school should include a record of both distribution and changes:

• Record of distribution: For each person receiving the plan, record name, title, agency, date of delivery, and number of copies delivered.
• Record of changes: For each change, include a record of any changes made including a change number, the date of the change, and the name of the person who made the change.

This lesson presented information on developing a comprehensive school emergency operations plan that includes: a basic plan, functional annexes, and hazard-specific annexes. The lesson reviewed the following steps in the process for developing the plan:

• CPG Step 3: Determine Goals
• CPG Step 4: Plan Development
• CPG Step 5: Plan Preparation, Review, and Approval

Lesson 6 provides an overview of the Incident Command System and NIMS.