Dealing With Tragic Events in a School Setting:

Creating and Implementing a Crisis Management Plan

    Anger, confusion, sadness, fear, and disbelief are among the emotions felt by Americans and people around the world on September 11, 2001.  We were able to see these events unfold before our eyes as television captured in real time the horrific destruction of lives and buildings.

    That day, we - veteran educators, those new to the field of teaching, and students hoping to become teachers - were faced with the daunting tasks of not only coping with our own feelings about these historic tragedies but questioning how we would deal with the feelings of the students within our classrooms.

    In my experience as a school counselor, I have found at least two common denominators in the process of handling any tragedy that befalls a school community:  first, grief is expressed by individuals in any number of ways, and second, as teachers and other professionals attempt to help students work through their feelings about the event at hand, there is never certainty about the direction the grief process will take.  I believe it is this uncertainty that teachers fear most.  And yet, our students, and indeed we all, deserve to have access to the help we need in times of tragedy.

    So what do we do?  First and foremost, to create some normalcy and organization out of a chaotic situation, systematic procedures must be in place and consistently followed by school personnel.  Many schools and districts have a crisis management plan with which to respond to unexpected tragic events, including but not limited to death of a student or staff member, suicide attempt, serious accident, or other similar situation.

    The following are some general suggestions for creating and implementing a crisis management within a school setting.  Individual schools and districts will need to best assess both the needs of their students and staff as well as their available resources as they create such a plan.

  1.  Create a District Crisis Management Team.  This team may be coordinated by Pupil Services Administrators and the individual building principal(s).  Other team members may include:

• School counselor(s)

• School psychologist(s)

• School social worker(s)

• Community agency members (e.g. county social workers and Crisis Intervention personnel)

  2.  Create phone trees in all district schools for the purpose of systematically informing all (including custodians, cooks, etc.) building personnel of Action Plan meeting time.  Each building staff member should keep a copy of the phone tree, along with the crisis management plan, in an easily accessible place in her/his home.  Telephone numbers on the phone tree should be updated as needed and no less than once each school year.  Follow the phone tree plan to eliminate the possibility of inadvertently not passing information on to some school personnel. 

  3.  Action Plan meeting times and places should be pre-determined (for example, meet in the cafeteria one half hour before teachers usually report to school in the morning).

  4.  Pre-determine, if possible, who will lead the meeting as well as the meeting format.  The format may vary depending on the circumstances of the event (e.g. serious accident, suicide, etc.).

  5.  Decide who will be the single source of information in the building (oftentimes, this is the building administrator). This is extremely important as only accurate information should be given out to dispel rumors.

  6.  Designate sites within the building where students may meet with counselors and/or other mental health professionals to process their grief.  Individual and small group counseling should be made available on an on-going basis to those most affected by the event.

  7.  Provide a written outline or script for teachers (or whoever will be addressing students) to follow when talking with students in their classes.  Include suggestions of what and what not to say to the students.  The scripts may vary depending on the circumstances of the event.

  8.  Identify those who may be closest to the person or event and arrange for special sessions with the appropriate Crisis Team members.  This is especially important in cases where a death has occurred, and critical if the death resulted from suicide to prevent copy-cat acts by the victim's friends.

  9.  Have available a list of school and community resources where students and staff can receive counseling help.

10.  Notify parents of those students who seem especially affected by the event so parents can be watchful and supportive.  As school employees, we are mandated by state law to report to the proper agencies any threats a student may make against her/himself or others.  Follow the same procedure of notifying parents and counselors for students who may not make such threats but for whom you may have a concern about harming themselves or others.

11.  If the event is a suicide, there are a number of general rules to be followed:

• Do not dismiss school.  The students need to follow as normal a pattern as possible.

• On the day of the funeral, the school should follow its normal attendance policy.

• Do not encourage a general student body attendance at the funeral if it is held during school hours.  Excuse only those students who have a parental request for an excused absence for the funeral.

• Do not dedicate a room, garden, etc. in the victim's memory.

• Emphasize that no one is to blame - not friends, family, teachers, etc.  The person chose to die by suicide, and no one forced it on that person.

• If students or staff want to do something, suggest helping to plan a suicide prevention effort in the community.  Discourage any memorials.

• Do not schedule a large assembly.

• Do provide small group opportunities to discuss the student suicide.

12.  Teachers should take care of their own emotional needs as well as attempting to deal with those of their students.  Seek help if you need it!

    This list is not exhaustive and again, Crisis Management Plans may vary with the circumstances of the event.  Having organizational structures in place to address crises when they arise lessens confusion and provides efficient systematic communication when it is most needed.

Resource:  Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools.  (2000).  Sudden death/crisis management:  Policy and procedure handbook.  Wisconsin Rapids, WI.