EDLD 5345 - Human Resources (Week #4 Discussion Post)

As a new building principal you review your office and discover your Crisis Management Plan is not present.  Reviewing the list of manuals you notice your maintenance yearly and monthly reports, your present vendor contracts, your technology plan yearly report, and your campus improvement plan, your present report listing any and all grants in process on your campus.  List in order the process needed to alleviate the concern of the missing Crisis Management Plan.

There is more than one answer to this question. First I’ll chase the rabbit down the trail as to how I would deal with the missing CMP using local resources in my current district. Next I will discuss what the TEA Financial Accountability System Resource Guide (2010) has to say about the issue.

In my district we have a Safety Program/Risk Management Emergency Plan document posted on the district website. The document is listed CKC (legal). The sub-headings listed in the plan are as follows:

•        Emergency Operations Plan
•        Train Derailment
•        Disclosure

The district has a multihazard emergency operation plan for the use of all district facilities. The plan covers the areas of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery as they are each defined by the Texas Commissioner of Education, of course in conjunction with the Texas governor’s office of homeland security. This plan must provide for the following:

1. District employee training in responding to an emergency;

2. Mandatory school drills and exercises to prepare District students and employees for responding to an emergency;

3. Measures to ensure coordination with the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) and local emergency management agencies, law enforcement, health departments, and fire departments in the event of an emergency; and

4. The implementation of a required safety and security audit.

(Friona ISD, 185903. (2010). Update 87 CKC (Legal)-P, SAFETY PROGRAM/RISK MANAGEMENT EMERGENCY PLANS. Retrieved from: http://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/992?filename=CKC%28LEGAL%29.pdf.)

In light of the fact that this plan is a legal requirement from the governor’s office of homeland security I would, as a principal, know that it does exist. My first move would be to contact the superintendent’s office and request a copy of the document. Next I would do the following:

1.      If the document is online I would save a copy of it to my hard drive.

a.     If this scenario was able to come to fruition I would also save the file on a mobile drive as well.

b.     After downloading the document I would print a copy and place it in my administrative files.

2.     If the document is not online I would ask the superintendent if his secretary could please fax them to my office.

a.     In addition to the faxed copy I would ask the superintendent’s office to courier an original copy for my official files.

In the event the district has not drafted these documents as of yet, I would first talk with my superintendent about this issue. Per the TEA, this document is discretionary:

 “The focus of the remaining sections of this module is to present ways and methods that school districts can utilize (at their discretion) to improve overall management.”

 (Texas Education Agency Financial Accountability System Resource Guide (2010) Module 8. Management, Update 14. Pg. 5. Retrieved from: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=1222).

This is a bit of a sticky wicket as in the legal documentation listed on the district website the district shall create this document at the behest of the governor’s office of homeland security. In the TEA Resource Guide this item is listed as discretionary. There is an exhaustive list of steps to follow in Module 8 (Management, Update 14) from the TEA to follow for drafting the Crisis Management Plan. I won’t list them all here as it is long and everyone viewing this should have the document as a part of the Week 4 EDLD 5345 readings.