Communications
Proper communication is a key element to the success of a district's preparation and recovery from an event.
This section of the guide is intended to provide you with suggestions related to communications between the
key participants in the recovery effort.
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Before the Event
- Communicate roles and responsibilities to essential employees
- Notify essential employees and review their responsibilities
- Communicate district policy plan of action to essential employees
- Disseminate information about closing schedule
- Disseminate information about rendezvous points
- Disseminate information about schools as shelter
- Distribute satellite phones to essential employees
For some extreme events such as a hurricane when essential employees may be dispersed by evacuation,
satellite phones will help maintain essential communications among the leadership.
- Communicate the following to all employees:
- Disseminate information about closing schedule
- Disseminate information about schools as shelter
Employees at a facility should be notified that their facility might be used as a shelter and they should
prepare their spaces for use as such.
- Review and confirm emergency contact and payroll information
- Update list of cell phone numbers
- Remind employees it is their responsibility to remain in contact after emergency
- Update school district web site with announcements
- Closing schedule
- Schools as shelter
- Review with site administrators emergency lock down plans
- Communicate transportation plan to bus drivers.
- Communicate with constituents (includes parents, students, key partners)
- Disseminate information about closing schedule
- Disseminate information about schools as shelter
- Remind parents to update their emergency contact information with the district
- Update list of cell phone numbers
- Remind key partners to update their emergency contact information with the district
- Alert rendezvous partners of impending arrival of essential employees
- Update school district web site
- Closing schedule
- Schools as shelter
- Communications with media
- Disseminate information about closing schedule
- Disseminate information about schools as shelter
- Remind media of spokesperson contact info
- Communication with board members
- Disseminate information about closing schedule
- Disseminate information about schools as shelter
- Review emergency contact information
- Verify all emergency communications equipment is working properly and fully charged
- Ensure that adequate backup power is going to be available
- Batteries
- Generator fuel
- Establish a central point for accessing student and personnel records and post procedures to retrieve
information on the web site.
- Communicate
- Best Practices
- Consider utilizing satellite phones for essential personnel communications
Some vendors have contract options to provide a district with satellite phones in the case of an impending
event such as a hurricane.
- Prepare regular back-ups for information systems that will be utilized for communications (web site)
- Consider redundant communications systems with the second at a remote location
This includes a redundant web site so that in the event that a districts servers go down, the web site can be
immediately redirected and brought back online from a remote location. The web site is critical for
communications.
- Consider creating secure login area on the district web site for dissemination of sensitive information
to employees only
- Establish call trees, automated call lists, contact sheets
Several vendors provide services to place automated phone calls.
- Disseminate procedures for employees to find information before, during and after an emergency
- Verify that emergency communications devices are included and ready for use in the essential employees'
emergency kit
During the Event
- Keep copies of disaster planning document readily available
- Maintain contact with essential employees
- Maintain periodic communications with key partners
- Communicate status of event
- If school is a shelter:
- Provide periodic updates to evacuees with latest information
- Verify that managers/volunteers understand the rules and their responsibilities
After the Event
- Communicate with essential employees
- Rendezvous with essential employees
- Review responsibilities required from each
- Disseminate information about possible re-opening schedule
- Communicate with all employees
- Establish communication network
- Web site
- Media outlets
- Phone trees
- Automated call lists
- Disseminate information about re-opening schedule
- Disseminate information emergency contact and payroll information
- Remind employees of responsibility to remain in contact after emergency
- Update school district web site about re-opening schedule
- Schedule meeting with site administrators regarding re-opening
- Communicate with constituents (includes parents, students, key partners)
- Disseminate information about re-opening schedule
- Disseminate information about closing schools as shelter
- Remind key partners of essential personnel contact info
- Update school district web site about re-opening schedule
- Communicate with media
- Disseminate information about re-opening schedule
- Disseminate information about closing schools as shelter
- Communicate with board members about re-opening schedule