When it comes to emergency response planning for school districts, there are always questions. If you have a question for the Hour-Zero™ team, please free to ask. We will endeavour to respond to you directly; answer your question or point you in the right direction.

Each week we will post a new question with its answer and, who knows, that question might just be yours.

Q:        Should we post our crisis response plan on the internet to share with parents?

A:        No, you should never post your emergency response plan to the internet. Treat it as a confidential document. Posting it to the internet will expose your school to unwarranted browsing by individuals who may be the catalyst of a crisis. What you should do is post information that is relevant for parents – important things they need to know during an emergency, such as emergency hotline numbers, evacuation centers addresses, and parent-child reunion procedures.

Internally components of the plan should be made available to staff on a need-to-know basis. What that means is that staff should be provided with information that empowers them to fulfill their assigned roles. This strategy does two things

1. Staff members are not overwhelmed with too much information.
2. It helps to maintain the confidentiality of the plan.

Note to users:
All information provided is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavour to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act upon such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the facts of the particular situation.