After the Columbine incident, the Governor ordered all schools to prepare a school safety plan for responding to a crisis on campus. The Initative quickly developed a School Emergency Notebook to assist schools in preparing their plans. Every Alabama school, public and private, received at least one copy of the Alabama Standardized "School Emergency" Crisis Notebook (distribution was in the school year 2000).

The notebook contains information to assist schools in crisis situations, and it provides uniform guidelines for school emergency plans.

Notebook Contents

1. Each school's individual school crisis management plan (provided by the school);
2. Uniform guidelines for designing this plan, provided by the Alabama Department of Education;
3. A classified local law enforcement crisis packet developed by the Alabama Department of Public Safety, consisting of a 3-page form that includes a checklist for schools to list contacts and information that law enforcement officials will need in a crisis;
4. Lists of statewide resources for crisis or emergency situations;
5. Information for parents on school safety;
6. Background information/details on designing a crisis plan;
7. A sample (Pearl, Mississippi) crisis plan;
8. Media planning tips; and
9. A listing of other available crisis planning resources, websites, organizations, and other resources related to school safety.

Download

The following items were included in the notebook and are available for download.

• A School Crisis Prevention and Response Resource Paper, which was prepared by the National School Safety Center (NSSC) at Pepperdine University. (PDF -- 72KB)