There are no federal laws that mandate schools have EOPs or EOP planning teams. State requirements vary. While most, if not all, require some type of safety plan, the requirements of how the plan is developed and who will be involved varies from state to state. Some states require parents, students, students with disabilities and/or their parent or guardian be members of school safety planning teams. Others require more than one school safety planning team.
Although there are no federal mandates, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends that schools develop comprehensive EOPs and establish comprehensive EOP teams. FEMA guidance suggests that EOP teams include school administrators, emergency responders, teachers, mental health professionals, school nurses, bus drivers, nutrition managers and community leaders.
FEMA also suggests considering a secondary or ad-hoc team to include students, support staff, faith-based leaders, community health care providers and other people who are important to the school community. More resources can be found here.
School EOPs are designed to cover any and all emergencies, disasters or other crisis situations at school or at school events off campus. EOPs include plans for what to do before, during and after an emergency, how to do what must be done, who is responsible for making sure what must be done gets done, how to prepare others, how and when to practice and what was learned from practice or emergencies.
EOPs may have two focus areas. One area includes physical safeguards and the other, school climate. Physical safeguards may include modifications to buildings, compliance with fire codes, safety doors and locks, parking lots, gates and sidewalks. School climate may include character development programs, clear school policies and expectations of conduct, consistent discipline, access to care and support on campus and strong community ties.
EOPs are designed to be customized, modified, reviewed and updated regularly and should not prioritize one area over the other as they are equally important. There will always be some variation in priority based on the age of the school, changes in enrollment and recent disasters. 