Skip to main content

School Preparedness

Emergency Operations Planning/Continuity of Operations Planning

Behavioral Threat AssessmentCrisis Prevention and Intervention

Welcome to the School Preparedness webpage!

What is Preparedness?

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) defines preparedness as “a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating, and taking corrective action in an effort to ensure effective coordination during incident response.” 

The Preparedness Cycle was created to illustrate the following steps: 

National Incident Management System Preparedness Cycle

 

  1. Plan

  2. Organize/Equip

  3. Train

  4. Exercise

  5. Evaluate/Improve

Each stage in the Preparedness Cycle relates to one or more of the five mission areas in the National Preparedness Goal, as outlined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2015). 

 

Decorative Line to Separate

The National Preparedness Goal

The five mission areas of the National Preparedness Goal in the context of schools include:

  1. Prevention - To prevent, avoid, or stop a crisis event from happening in a school environment.
  2. Protection - To protect all individuals in a school environment against the greatest threats and hazards to them in their specific school's environment.
  3. Mitigation - To reduce the loss of life and property by lessening the impact of future potential crisis events in a school environment.
  4. Response - To respond to any crisis event on a school campus quickly to save lives, protect the school's property and environment, and meet basic human needs in the aftermath of a catastrophic event.
  5. Recovery - To recover through a focus on the timely restoration, strengthening and revitalization of infrastructure, housing and a sustainable economy, as well as the health, social, cultural, historic and environmental fabric of communities affected by a catastrophic incident.

 

Decorative Line to Separate

How does ADE support the five mission areas of the National Preparedness Goal?

The Arizona Department of Education supports education agencies across the state in preparing for emergencies of all types. Some activities in school preparedness that ADE supports include:

  • Emergency Operations Planning (EOP) tools and guidance

  • Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) tools and training

  • Crisis prevention and intervention training

  • School-based threat assessment training

  • Training of the trainers

  • Mental health guidance

  • Suicide prevention training

Decorative Image

School Preparedness Resources 

      • Drills and Exercises: Guidance for Schools: Arizona Department of Education, 2024. 
      • CISA's Tabletop Exercise Packages help planners have coordinated discussions about the variety of safety issues that could arise and how to navigate them.
      • After Action Review and Improvement Template This template is to be used after any drills or incidents on campus.
      • FEMA Independent Study Online Courses The Arizona Minimum Requirements mandate that school employees who fill a role within the Incident Command System (ICS) structure are required to complete three FEMA online training: IS-100.a: Introduction to the Incident Command System, IS-200.C: Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response, and IS-700.B:  An Introduction to the National Incident Management System.
      • County Emergency Management On-site Training Upon completing IS-100.a, IS-200.c, and IS-700.b, district and school ERP teams are strongly encouraged to also complete the Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools course either through their local emergency management office or FEMA. Districts can schedule the two-day MAG-364 Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools course by submitting a DEMA (Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs) training request form to the county emergency management office. There is no cost to the district for this training.
      • FEMA Training  E-361 Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools Course.
      • Advanced Training through DEMA Upon completing FEMA’s E-361 or DEMA’s G-364, key personnel on a district’s ERP team are encouraged to also complete MAG-300 (Intermediate Incident Command Station) and MAG-400 (Advanced Incident Command Station) through DEMA.

      *Please note: DEMA provides G-364 trainings by request only. You can request G-364 trainings by filling out DEMA's Training Request Form and submitting it to [email protected].

            • Safe and Sound Schools 
              • Especially Safe programming engages safety planners in best practice whole school community emergency planning and training that accounts for student developmental needs, including considerations for students with disabilities and access and functional needs. 
              • Straight A Safety Toolkit-provide school safety planners with resources to improve school safety and overall school community preparedness.
              • Annual State of School Safety Reports detail annual stakeholder priorities related to school safety and preparedness.
            • Sandy Hook Promise -to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities.

               

              Laws 

               Contact Us

              Email the ADE School Preparedness team with any questions!

              Contact