Orange County Grand Jury • 2010-2011 • Agency Response
Response to: Orange County Public Schools: Are They Prepared for Emergencies? 5/18/11, 234K

Board of Education Sandy Blumberg Jeff Cole Dr. Jose F. Moreno Susan Preus*

Published: November 14, 2011 8 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 7 findings

F1
José L. Banda With respect to reported constraints on emergency planning and preparation, over half of schools and almost three quarters of districts \wedge identified either limited time or funds. BOARD OF The Anaheim City School District agrees with this finding. Reduced funding EDUCATION resulting in fewer personnel and resources creates barriers to moving forward Sandy Blumberg with emergency management planning in a more effective manner. Jeff Cole Dr. José F. Moreno
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Those districts which have yet to identify disaster grand opportunities, especially from governmental agencies, investigate the availability of potential resources. Forming inter-district collaboratives, learning from districts in the county that have been successful, pooling resources, and asking for consultation from the Orange County Superintendent of Schools/OCDE may help in these efforts. The Anaheim City School District has not received grants for emergency preparedness. In the future, our district intends to implement Recommendation 1 by identifying disaster grant opportunities and investigating the availability of potential resources. We are currently working with OCDE to provide training for emergency teams to ensure that all staff has updated and current training in how to respond to emergency situations so that our students and staff have the support they will need in an emergency situation. We work closely with the Orange County Emergency Management Organization and CERT personnel to ensure that ACSD is prepared for emergency situations.
F2
Susan Preus Six of 17 school districts have managed to apply for and receive relatively James Vanderbilt large grants from governmental agencies to greatly enhance their emergency planning efforts, while others have not. The Anaheim City School District agrees that school districts should seek grant funding. The existing federal grant program will be phasing out in 2012 and other grant programs will need to be identified.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Districts review their plans, and the plans specific to each of their campuses, with respect to emergencies or possible disaster situations they have not anticipated. Each of our school sites has a written safe school plan drafted and submitted by March 1st of each year. The plan is reviewed each year by staff, parents and our Board of Education and is updated annually. Training for administrators will take place in December to ensure that updates of the Safe School Plan are in accordance with the law. Additionally, each school site has a District Crisis Response Resource Manual that serves as a guide to developing their site emergency plans. District-wide training is provided for administrators, who then train their site personnel. Currently, all sites and district office buildings are reviewing and strengthening their emergency plans, as directed by our Superintendent and district safety officer. Plans were reviewed by the district in October and are to be reviewed again in February to ensure that areas of identified improvement are addressed and rectified. Additional training for each emergency team (First Aid, Search & Locate, Damage Assessment, Emergency Operations Center, Support, Student Release, and Student Supervision) will be provided in January 20012 to ensure that each school site and district office building has well trained teams in place for possible emergency situations. Each school site and district building is required to have one fire drill per month and at least one • earthquake or lockdown drill each quarter. The District Emergency Preparedness Team is currently updating lockdown procedures in response to identified areas of change as a result of recent lockdowns at school sites due to police activity. A district-wide computerized system has been developed to facilitate quick accountability of students and staff in a lockdown situation. Each classroom teacher, all administrators, classified staff and district office employees have been trained to use this system to report all persons in their presence during a lockdown. Persons not accounted for will be reported to first responders. This system enables us to give valuable information to police in an emergency situation.
F3
Some schools anticipate responding to only a few emergency situations (e.g., earthquake and fire), while others have developed plans to respond to over a dozen different threatening situations. The Anaheim City School District agrees with this finding. Our school district has developed information for the following emergency situations: Auto wreck or airplane crash Homicide or Attempted Homicide Leslie Angotti Director, Pupil Services Armed Student Hostage Situation Bomb Threat Intruders on Campus 1001 S. East Street Fire or Explosion Kidnapping/Child Stealing/Lost Children Anaheim, CA 92805-5749 \wedge Flood or Heavy Rains Lockdown Procedures Phone: 714-517-7500 Fax: 714-517-8538 Gang Fight/Riot/Neighborhood Incident Shooting \wedge www.acsd.k12.ca.us Hazardous Material Spill Suicide/Death of Student or Staff 礼
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Districts review their level of compliance with various existing codes, regulations, and liability insurance issues that pertain to emergency preparedness in public schools. The Anaheim City School District has implemented this recommendation by developing a school safety plan for each of its schools and working with federal, state and local emergency management agencies. The school district has sufficient liability insurance with respect to emergency preparedness.
F4
School districts develop plans with respect to a number of different but overlapping regulations and standards, including those required by the county, state, and the federal government. The Anaheim City School District agrees with this finding. Each school in ACSD has developed a Safe School Plans as Education Code requires. Annual training is provided to assist schools in updating their plan and communicating it to the school • community. Quarterly Safety Committee meetings are held at each school site to review safety concerns regarding • emergency preparedness and potential hazardous conditions on campus. The Safety Committee members are comprised of administrators, classified staff, teachers and parents. Reports from these meetings are sent to the district office for review. Our District Safety Committee works collaboratively with the County of Orange Emergency Management Organization to ensure procedures are in place to handle any type of emergency and that we are connected with county agencies for assistance.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Districts review their plans, and the plans specific to each of their campuses, to ascertain whether the special medical and/or prescription medication needs of all students are adequately anticipated, especially during an extended disaster situation. The Anaheim City School District is currently reviewing its plans with respect to the special medical and prescription medication needs of all students and is developing a plan to meet these needs, in the event of an emergency. All medication and specialized health care plans are evacuated with students for earthquake situations. District nurses ensure that students have a minimum of a one week supply of medication at the school site for an extended disaster situation.
F5
Some schools reported they have not adequately anticipated the needs of students taking prescription medications, or with specialized medical needs, in the event of some emergencies, such as an extended lockdown. The Anaheim City School District agrees that this issue should be addressed. The Anaheim City School District is focusing on how to meet all students' needs during an emergency. Currently procedures are in place to secure all student medications and individualized care plans for special needs students when students are evacuated and during lockdowns. Lockdown or Intruder situations present a special set of circumstances as students and medications may be locked down in separate areas. We are currently collaborating with nursing staff and Anaheim Police Department to ensure that police escorts are provided for students with serious medical needs such as insulin dependent diabetics.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Districts survey their campuses with respect to the needs of non- or limited-English-speaking parents and guardians, and develop outlines or summaries of critical emergency planning information in Spanish, Vietnamese, and other threshold languages prevalent in their local communities. The Anaheim City School District surveys parents regarding their correspondence language. Our district publishes emergency procedures in school newsletters in Spanish to meet the community's needs. Respectfully Submitted, Leslie Angotti Director, Pupil Services ANAHEIM CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT TABLE OF CONTENTS General Information Ĭ. Purpose......1 Board Policy ......2 Administrative Regulations ......3 Legal References ......4 District Office (EOC).....6 II. Site Guidelines III. Annual Crisis Plan Timeline.....8 Bell Codes .................................... Evacuation/Lockdown Procedures......10 Emergency Evacuation Area Map Example ......11 Emergency Evacuation Area Quadrant Map Example ......12 Classroom Emergency Supplies ......13 Suggested Classroom First Aid Kit Supplies.....14 Site Incident Teams IV. Incident Management Team Locations ......15 Incident Management Team Descriptions......16 Department Operations Center Team ......17 Crisis Response Liaison......19 Crisis Related Psychological Factors ......20 Search and Locate/Rescue Team ......21 Start Card ......24 First Aid Team ......25 First Aid Team Procedures Summary .................................... Damage Assessment Team ......29 ANAHEIM CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Student Supervision Team ......31 Student Release Team .................................... Student Release Team Runners ......35 Support Team .................................... Loss of Utilities .................................... Emergency Procedures V. Accidents/Plane Crash .......41 Armed Student (Possession of a Firearm) ......42 Bomb Threat .................................... Death of a Student or Staff Member ......44 Earthquake .......45 Fire or Explosion .......47 Flood or Heavy Rains .......48 Gang Fight / Riot or Neighborhood Incident .......49 Hazardous Materials Spills ......50 Homicide or Attempted Homicide ......51 Hostage Situation ......52 Intruders on Campus ......56 Kidnapping / Child Stealing / Lost Children ......57 Lockdown Procedures ......58 Shooting ......59 Suicide .................................... VI. Forms Annual Crisis Plan Checklist ......61 Classroom Hazard Checklist ......62 Crisis Response Drill Evaluation.................................... Damage Assessment Survey......64 مرير.م ANAHEIM CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Emergency Accountability Report .................................... Emergency Drill Record .................................... Emergency Partners 67 Emergency Status Report .................................... Incident Action Log.................................... Incident/First Aid Supplies List.......71 Injured Student Release Form .................................... Name Tags.................................... Sample Letter(s) to Parents /Emergency Procedures .................................... Sample Letter to Parents/Student Disaster Preparedness Kits.................................... Sample School Personnel Phone Tree ................................. Staff Skills Survey .......81 Status Cards 83 Student Release Log.................................... Triage/First Aid Treatment Log .......90 Staff Personal Emergency Preparedness Plan......91 VII. VIII. Standard Emergency Management System (SEMS) SEMS ......96 . . . .
F6
School districts are in communication with a variety of local and county departments, agencies, and systems to help them prepare for and respond to disasters or emergencies; not all districts access the same resources. The Anaheim City School District agrees that different districts may access different resources. It is our understanding that different districts communicate in a variety of ways with first responders, local agencies, and other agencies to support matters of emergency management. ACSD works closely with the Anaheim Police Department, Anaheim Fire Authority and Orange County Emergency Management Organization to ensure that our emergency procedures are well implemented in accordance with best practices.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Few schools have plans or emergency preparation information available in languages other than English. The Anaheim City School District has prepared emergency information in Spanish for our parents and community members. Should populations of additional languages increase we are prepared to offer additional translations for our community.
No recommendations for this finding

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.