HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and state Department of Education announced today that the “All-Hazards” School Safety Planning Toolkit is now available for schools, school districts and emergency responders in Pennsylvania.
The planning toolkit includes essential resources, such as legal citations, guidelines and other reference material, to help plan for all types of emergencies and disasters, whether natural or man-made.
The kit is available here. There, click on “Forms and Documents” and then “Plans, Guides and Presentations.”
“We want to provide every resource possible for our schools and districts to provide a safe and secure learning environment for their students,” said Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak. “We know that students excel when they’re in a safe and positive climate, which enables them to reach their full academic potential and become productive members of our workforce.”
“This toolkit is an invaluable resource that can be a starting point to open an emergency preparedness discussion with local emergency officials,” said Robert P. French, PEMA director.
“That cooperation between schools and their local emergency management agency and first responders facilitates the development of an effective and thorough emergency preparedness plan that keeps students and faculty safe, as well as first responders who are called to an incident.”
The toolkit was developed by a team of personnel from PEMA and Department of Education, as well as the Center for Safe Schools, Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Pennsylvania State Police, South Central PA Task Force, participating schools and intermediate units, and private citizens.
Additional school safety and security resources can be found at PDE’s Web site.
Information about emergency preparedness for citizens and businesses is available online.