Emergency Management

Contacting state and local emergency management is a critical step to preparing schools for disasters. Emergency management offices create and implement state and local emergency operations plans (EOP). At the state level, education leaders should contact their state emergency management office to coordinate disaster preparedness efforts. At the local level, schools are encouraged to contact local emergency management officials and align school disaster plans with their community emergency operation plan to better protect staff and students.

• To locate offices and agencies of state emergency management, log onto: http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/statedr.shtm. 
  
• To get contact information for local emergency management offices, you can e-mail or call the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) at info@iaem or 703-538-1795, extension 2, to ask for your local contact, or visit the link for the state Web sites at http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/statedr.shtm. 

Citizen Corps

Citizen Corps is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s community-based program to promote citizen preparedness and participation. Citizen Corps can be a resource for disaster preparedness education and training opportunities, as well as a bridge to working with emergency management, law enforcement, fire services and local health professionals. At the state level, education leaders are encouraged to contact their state Citizen Corps Council and coordinate disaster preparedness education and outreach to schools. At the local level, schools are encouraged to contact their local Citizen Corps Council for training opportunities and ways to become involved.

• To locate your State Citizen Corps Council visit:  http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/listCouncil.do?submitByState&stateOnly.
  
• To locate your local Citizen Corps Council visit:  http://www.citizencorps.gov/councils/find_council.shtm. 

NOAA Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM)

Warning Coordination Meteorologists are willing to meet with you, your teams and school administrators to provide training and technical assistance on radio operation and to provide programs to educate students, teachers and the community on weather. For special school presentations, schools are encouraged to contact their local Warning Coordination Meteorologist.

• For information on contacting your local Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) log onto: http://www.weather.gov/os/wcm-soo.pdf.

American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and Local Ham Radio Clubs

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has approximately 152,000 members and is the largest organization of radio amateurs in the United States. The ARRL is a not-for-profit organization that promotes interest in Amateur Radio communications and experimentation, represents US radio amateurs in legislative matters and maintains fraternalism and a high standard of conduct among Amateur Radio operators.  ARRL members have volunteered to partner with schools to program and register their NOAA Public Alert Radio. Schools should contact an ARRL representative for assistance.

• To locate your ARRL state sections, visit http://www.arrl.org/sections/,
  
• To find contacts for local clubs, use the ARRL club locator at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml.

Resources for Emergency Management and Citizen Corps Councils

Preschools and Head Start Programs
Preschools provide educational programs that suit young children aged three to five and provide them a foundation before they enter kindergarten. One such program, Head Start, is a federally funded program that provides grants to local public and private nonprofit and for-profit agencies to deliver comprehensive child development services to economically disadvantaged children and families, with a special focus on helping preschoolers develop the early reading and math skills they need to be successful in school. Preschools should have emergency plans in effect to ensure the safety of children and faculty. Local emergency managers and Citizen Corps Councils are encouraged to work with preschools in their communities to develop and implement these plans. 

• To locate preschools in your community, visit the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center’s Web site with links to each state’s child care division page(s). Each state should have a Child Care Resource and Referral Agency or something similar that can refer a person to early childhood programs in their area. http://www.nccic.org/statedata/dirs/statehp.html.
  
• To locate Head Start facilities, please visit: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb/hsweb/index.jsp.
  
• To view a list of the names and addresses of preschools and Head Start programs scheduled to receive the NOAA Alert Radios in your community, go to the Web site at http://public-alert-radio.nws.noaa.gov/; select the registration link for either public or nonpublic preschools; and enter your state and county to get a list of the preschools in your jurisdiction scheduled to receive the radios.

K-12 Public Schools and District Offices
School district offices have emergency management plans and communication procedures for the public schools within their district. To offer assistance with NOAA Public Alert Radios and schools emergency management plans, local emergency management agencies and Citizen Corps Councils are encouraged to contact their local school district office to coordinate communication with individual public schools in their area. Contacts should not be made directly to individual schools.

• State education contacts and information are located on the Department of Education Web site at http://www.ed.gov/about/contacts/state/index.html.
  
• Local public school district offices contacts and information can be located at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/.
  
• If you would like to view a list of the names and addresses of district offices scheduled to receive the NOAA Alert Radios in your community, go to the Web site at http://public-alert-radio.nws.noaa.gov/; select the registration link for school district offices, and enter your state and county.

K-12 Nonpublic School Central Offices and Schools
Nonpublic schools often have emergency management plans and communication procedures in place that are aligned with the plan of the local community in which the schools are located. To offer assistance with NOAA Public Alert Radios and schools’ emergency management plans, local emergency management agencies and Citizen Corps Councils are encouraged to contact the nonpublic schools within their geographical area to coordinate communication and develop a coordinated plan that meets the community’s needs.

• Contact information for most, though not all nonpublic schools, may be found via the Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics Web site at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/.
  
• Many private school organizations maintain lists of their member schools on their Web sites.  The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Nonpublic Education maintains a list of private school organizations at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/organizations.html.
  
• Many state departments of education maintain a list of nonpublic schools located in their states.  Contact information for state departments of education may be found at http://www.ed.gov/about/contacts/state/index.html.
  
• Most local public school districts maintain a list of nonpublic schools located within their geographical boundaries.  Contact information for local public school district offices may be found at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/.
  
• To view a list of the names and addresses of district offices scheduled to receive the NOAA Alert Radios in your community, visit  http://public-alert-radio.nws.noaa.gov/; select the registration link for school district offices; and enter your state and county. 

Postsecondary Schools

Postsecondary schools, also known as Institutions of Higher Education, most often have emergency management plans in place. NOAA Public Alert Radios can help to inform postsecondary institutions of emergency situations that require immediate action. Emergency management and Citizens Corp Councils should contact state offices of education and/or directors of security at individual postsecondary institutions to help coordinate emergency management efforts.

State higher education agency contacts and information can be found on the Department of Education Web site at http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/Programs/EROD/org_list.cfm?category_ID=SHE.

To view a list of the names and addresses of postsecondary schools scheduled to receive the NOAA Alert Radios in your community, go to the Web site at http://public-alert-radio.nws.noaa.gov/; select the registration link for postsecondary schools; and enter your state and county.

Additional Resources

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools www.ed.gov/emergencyplan
  
• Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center
  http://rems.ed.gov
  
• Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention
  www.higheredcenter.org
  

See also:
     Distribution of Public Alert Radios to Head Start Programs (ACF-IM-HS-08-15)

See PDF version:
     Distribution of Public Alert Radios to Head Start Programs [PDF, 114KB]