How to keep the crisis recovery process in schools from becoming its own crisis
By Holly Colonna, MEd.
Lead Counselor, Tucson Unified School District, Tucson, AZ
This article is brought to you by The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI). Visit their website: www.riskinstitute.org
Although the headline making acts of violence in schools rarely occur, tragic events do happen and their effects are felt throughout the community. Prevention, immediate response and crisis recovery are on going in schools today. For this paper, the focus will be on the recovery stage specifically in schools. There are many programs that are very effective in this area including FEMA, CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management), Dr. John Dudley’s When Grief Visits Schools (www.schoolcrisis.org), and many others. Dr. Dudley’s book presents a very simple, clear and effective system for recovery and dealing with grief in schools. He covers all aspects from how to put a recovery team together, specific roles for the team members, and planning the day to memorials, funerals, how to deal with anniversaries of the event, and much more. By using Dr. Dudley’s book as a guide, the counselors in Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) have developed a simple check list to ensure the recovery stage of crisis response runs smoothly and that the student response to tragic events doesn’t become another crisis.
Ms. Brown had been a very popular school nurse at the middle school for over 15 years. She has a massive brain aneurysm while driving home, pulls her car over to the side of the road by school, and dies. The next day, students were informed about her death. Over 400 students bolt from class, are on the verge of hysteria and many leave the school grounds.
Two high school students are having a disagreement that leads to a fistfight in the hall while classes where changing. One student falls to the floor. Many students witness this along with teachers and a school nurse who intervene and use CPR until paramedics arrive. The next day, students are told that the young man died. No students leave campus, no havoc occurs and students get the help they need in coping with the death.
These are real-life examples of the two scenarios that can occur in schools when students get the news about a crisis event. One is where the students run from classrooms, become hysterical, and completely disrupt the educational environment and safety of the school. The other is when students are directed to the help they need in an orderly, safe and beneficial fashion. I have personally experienced both of these on multiple occasions.
This paper presents some logistics to help make crisis recovery one where all members of the school community benefit. There are lots of programs that discuss how to debrief, how to talk to students, parents, and others about the crisis, how to work with first responders, etc. These programs are excellent and will help the recovery team members be more skilled. However, without the logistics in place, no matter how skilled the recovery team is, the response can be a disaster in and of itself. Dr. John Dudley has written a very easy-to-implement plan for crisis recovery in schools. The format has been used very successfully in TUSD for many years. The crisis response plan devised can be seen on the TUSD web page under the School Counseling Department, resources for counselors (http://instech.tusd.k12.az.us/counseling/crisis.asp). In addition to Dr. Dudley’s suggestions, the following are some tips for making crisis recovery in schools work. (This is in a checklist format in the crisis response manual on our web site.)
1. VERIFICATION OF CRISIS (VERIFY DEATH, PROBLEM, ISSUE, ETC.)
A kindergarten student was reported as the victim of a drowning. The school was notified and crisis recovery counselors were asked to go to the school for student and staff support. In reality, the student had nearly died and was in the hospital in critical condition. The principal did a great job of confirming the information and averted a very incorrect and insensitive response.
This is a critical step. Once word is received that a death or other crisis situation has occurred, be sure to verify. This means calling the family, police, news media, etc. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification and verification.
2. PLANNING COMPONENTS: THESE STEPS SET THE STAGE FOR THE DAY
AM Faculty/staff meeting. During the morning faculty meeting (or initial meeting taking place at any time of the day), it is important to have all members of the faculty and staff in attendance. Be sure to have a phone tree set up in advance to deliver critical messages to all staff members during non-school hours. Crisis recovery counselors should be at the meeting also. At this time, the principal would relay to the adults the information about the incident. Observing the adults and making sure they are able to do their jobs with students that day is critical. If a teacher or other staff member displays signs of inability to cope at that time, arrangements must be made for them to talk with a counselor, go home, etc. Substitutes should be on site ready to assist.
Write incident announcement and include logistics for moving those students needing to go to the crisis recovery room. An announcement to be read by the teachers to their class should be prepared and distributed to all teachers. This should be a short note letting students know the facts of the incident. It should not contain any opinion or other subjective information. This is read to all students at about the same time (after the first bell rings, etc.). Do not make a general announcement over the public address system. It is much better for students to hear the news in smaller groups (classes) by their teacher. In the information for teachers, include how to have students who need to see counselors move from the classroom to the crisis recovery area (usually the library or similar location). Teachers will be able to ascertain which students need immediate counseling. Since recoveryactivities will also be happening in the classrooms, only those students in most need should be sent to the crisis recovery room. More about this is defined in section 3.
Write letter to be sent home. By the end of the day, a letter describing the incident (facts only) needs to be sent home with every student. Be sure to translate the letter into appropriate languages if needed for your school community. It is important to make sure site and district administrators approve this letter prior to distribution.
- PM faculty/staff meeting (debriefing). This is the time to check in with how the adults are doing and see if more recovery steps need to take place.
3. LOGISTICS: FACILITIES, PROCEDURES
Crisis room for students (library or similar room). There needs to be a predetermined place for teachers to send students where counselors will be available to work with them individually and in small groups.
Crisis room for faculty/staff. It is not wise to have the adults in the building receive counseling in the same location as students. Usually the faculty room or a conference room is used for the adults. It is also good to contact the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) through the school/district benefits plan to have counselors from that agency available.
Method for students to move from classroom to crisis room. Clearly defined method for passes, etc. so that student attendance and supervision is maintained at all times.
Sign-in sheet for crisis room. Having students sign in when entering the crisis room is important. Again, keeping track of students in the school is vital. This also serves as documentation for which students may need follow-up services by site counselors and others.
- Possessions of the deceased or others involved in the crisis. Making sure lockers are cleaned out or other belongings are collected during a time where it will not be observed by others is important. The belongings need to be boxed and given to the family. Papers, etc. should be kept up in classrooms until all of the work that is displayed is taken down. Dr. Dudley has a lot of additional information about this in When Grief Visits Schools.
4. MATERIALS FOR THE CRISIS ROOM: WHAT NEEDS TO BE ON HAND PRIOR TO ANY STUDENTS ENTERING THE ROOM
- Tissues – multiple boxes
- Water – bottled water or pitchers of water with cups available
- Writing/drawing materials – pens, pencils, crayons, markers, paper
- Sign-in sheet
5. PLACEMENT OF CRISIS (RECOVERY) TEAM MEMBERS
- Counselors in student and staff crisis rooms
- At least one counselor in the immediately affected classroom or follow student schedule
- Counselors going room-to-room for any needed support
- Counselor in the front office if necessary
6. COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING
- EAP information for all faculty/staff members
- School maps/schedules for crisis team members (counselors)
- Letter to be sent home along with Helping Students/Childhood Grief flyer (from TUSD Crisis Response Recovery manual)
- Announcement to be read by teachers
- Do’s and don’ts sheet for teachers – useful tips and reminders for teachers/staff
| DO …allow the new loss issue to take precedence with classmates DON’T …give advice, be judgmental, criticize, blame |
- Open-ended questions sheet for teachers: Many teachers just need a place to begin when talking with their students.
| What was it like for you when you heard the news? |
In addition to the logistics, another very important factor is to know the counselors, social workers, or others who are responding to the crisis and working in the school during the recovery phase. The following is a real-life incident to illustrate the importance of this. There was a tragic car accident where the student driving the vehicle was found to be intoxicated and two of his passengers died in the wreck. A minister from a local church volunteered to help at the school the following day for recovery counseling. It turned out that the minister talked with many students telling them that the driver committed a sin, could not be forgiven and would go to hell because of his actions. Of course, this is not the message to be given in schools. It vividly shows how vital it is to know who is working with students in the recovery phase and what training they have had that qualifies them for this duty. Using school counselors, school social workers, etc., is recommended.
Of course, schools can’t do it all. Knowing where to refer students and family members for additional and more in-depth therapy is necessary. Community agencies and mental health institutions have effective programs that will help. Be sure to know what is available in your area.
There are a lot of things not mentioned in this paper including how front office personnel should answer phones, how to deal with funerals, the critical issue of memorials, talking with the media, etc. These issues and more are all addressed in the book When Grief Visits Schools by Dr. Dudley and are described in TUSD crisis response manual. The information in this paper is not meant to be all-inclusive. It merely serves as a checklist of some logistical planning in crisis recovery. The magnitude of the event will always cause changes to the response to be implemented. Most tragic events effecting students and the school community are not large-scale acts of violence but are local events that create a sense of grief and loss. The focus of crisis recovery is helping students learn how to cope with these feelings and events and be able to continue in the educational setting. There are many experts in this area and many programs that will help school personnel develop plans that will be appropriate for their individual needs. This paper presents some information and tips that have been developed over many years in one school district. It is our hope that our experiences with crisis response/recovery will help others be more effective when working with their students. Planning some of the logistics prior to any tragedy can help make it so the recovery does not become its own crisis.
RESOURCES
“When Grief Visits Schools” 2nd edition
A Resource for Administrators, Counselors, and Staff by Dr. John Dudley
www.schoolcrisis.org
Order from Educational Media Corporation 1.800.966.3382, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble
Tucson Unified School District
www.tusd1.org
Departments; School Counseling; For counselors
American School Counselor Association
www.schoolcounselor.org
The Center for Safe Schools and Communities
www.centerforsafeschools.org
Contact:
Sara J. Salmon, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Center for Safe Schools
CenterforSafeSchoolsandCommunities@groups.msn.com
Note: The Center for Safe Schools has excellent links to resources for the prevention of school violence as well as for recovery after traumatic events. Visit their Safe School Resources page for more useful information. They also provide professional development in several areas including Peace for Kids and Families and Aggression Replacement Training.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Holly Colonna is the Lead Counselor and coordinates the School Counseling Department for the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) in Tucson, Arizona. There are over 100 schools serving over 60,000 students K-12 in TUSD with school counselors in every school. Holly also is an adjunct instructor for Northern Arizona University, Tucson Campus where she teaches in the Masters in School Counseling Program. She has been a teacher, school counselor, counselor educator, curriculum author and national presenter.
In January 2006, PERI held a free online symposium to explore strategies for addressing violence in our nation’s schools. The program, entitled “Confronting Violence in Our Schools: Planning, Response, and Recovery,” offered practical advice for dealing with school violence — not just the high profile incidents that make headlines but the real issues of school violence that schools and communities face everyday.
The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI) is a nonprofit research organization that provides education and training resources on topics related to risk management and emergency management. PERI’s website, www.riskinstitute.org, offers free E-Training programs and a Publications, Tools, and Resources library with information on emergency planning and response, disaster recovery, school safety, workers’ compensation, and other key topics in risk management. PERI’s also maintains a national database of public sector liability and workers’ compensation claims data for benchmarking and performance measurement. The Data Exchange is a voluntary program that allows participating organizations to compare their liability and workers’ compensation losses with their peers and learn from other jurisdictions.
