Page 17 - School Planning & Management, April/May 2019

And, of course, different kinds of disas- ters can strike a school: an active shooter, a gas explosion, a tornado, you name it.
The point is that when a disaster arrives, you need to have a preplanned response that you can turn to—a response that will keep students and faculty as safe as possible.
How do you do that? How do you plan for a disaster? How do you even think about planning for a disaster?
Step one, according to experts, is to carry out a risk assessment.
Risk Assessments
Chances are, school and school district officials will have a basic grasp of risks to school buildings throughout the district.
“Catalog the potential hazards that could affect your region and area schools,” says Viv- ian Marinelli, senior director of Crisis Man- agement Services with FEI Behavioral Health,
Review your plans regularly. Experts note that emergency plans are fluid, and as things change, plans often require updating.
a company that creates a number of programs designed to assist employees, provide orga- nizational development, prevent workplace violence, and manage workplace crises.
Consider, too, other hazards. What about, for instance, the potential air-qual- ity problems that might arise in chemistry classrooms.
Another thought: how structurally sound is your school building and the outbuildings across your campus?
Marinelli also suggests surveying neighboring properties for things such as railroad tracks. What? While trains, rarely, run off the rails, they can, and if that hap- pens and one or some of the cars carrying hazardous materials springs a leak, you may have to shelter students and faculty.
Other potential problems that neigh- bors might pose include factories or plants of some kind that use harsh chemicals in their processes.
None of this is to suggest that you fear everything. No. The idea, instead, is to learn what might happen and to lay in the supplies and practice the procedures that will provide protection against an event, rare though it might be.
Marinelli strongly recommends identify- ing an emergency response team capable of taking charge during an emergency. All stu- dents and faculty need to do is listen to them.
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With the RuntzTM Ball Chair, students can easily bounce to the school day beat while reading, taking tests or working on a project.
The ability to move and fidget in a more natural way may help increase their focus and engagement in class.
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These Runtz are the pick of the litter.