Crises or emergencies happen without warning, leaving school administrators and personnel little time to prepare for how to handle the situation. This is when a comprehensive school safety plan is most needed. A school safety plan should detail all the steps to be taken during any number of crisis situations (Knox &Roberts, 2005). Some possible crises for which schools should have a plan include: tornadoes, school fires, earthquakes, school intruder situations, student violence, the death of student or faculty member, bomb threats, suicide, etc.
School administrators should review and revise the school's plans yearly to make improvements and update personnel roles for each situation. Teachers and building staff should then be trained on what their roles are, related to each crisis. Faculty should know what steps to take to execute their role appropriately when a crisis arises. An effective school safety plan should make students feel safe and supported and reassure parents that their students will be protected when they are in the building (Knox & Roberts, 2005).
Linked below is a school safety plan utilized by the Daleville Community School Corporation. It details the role of all school personnel in a crisis situation. It also provides staff with a list of outside community agencies and religious leaders who are willing to assist in times of crisis. In addition to performing their duties as outlined in the safety plan, professional school counselors can work throughout the year to help prepare staff and students for a possible crisis situation. Professional school counselors can prepare and lead classroom guidance lessons related to coping skills, what services are offered by the counseling department at the school, and more preventative lessons on conflict resolution and stress management. Counselors should also lead faculty trainings on how to assist students in times of crisis and strategies for coping with the crises themselves. This means that professional school counselors should be knowledgeable about these strategies and about how to recognize a potential threat. Counselors are often the first line of defense when a student is making any kind of threat. It is important that a professional school counselor knows the appropriate steps to take when any crisis situation arises.