can assist school leaders and volunteers who
need to quickly and accurately share infor-
mation with the school community in the
aftermath of a school shooting.
The toolkit has three sections: before an
incident; during an incident; and after an
incident. ACSA members and partners have
contributed content to the toolkit, which in-
cludes resources on lockdown drills, facility
assessments, crisis management, and samples
of post-incident communications. The tool-
kit also includes links to content from stu-
dent advocates, federal agencies and thought
leaders in other parts of the United States.
Before an incident
The BEFORE section of the toolkit fo-
cused on what school leaders can do with
staff, students, parents and community
resources to prepare for and prevent inci-
dents of school violence. There are some
highlights to this section that can help staff
with templates and videos. Some suggested
resources include:
• Use an anonymous reporting system or
tip line. Make sure you have a way for stu-
dents and staff to report concerns in a loca-
tion where staff can quickly access the infor-
mation and respond to it.
• Conduct lockdown drills that include all
staff. While the statewide recommendation
is to have one drill a year, the FSVTF sug-
gests monthly practices so students build a
“muscle memory” for what to do during a
lockdown. Empower all staff members to
act on anything that concerns them to call
a lockdown. Never refer to a lockdown as a
“drill,” because if an emergency takes place,
staff and students may go into panic mode
when they do not hear the term “drill.”
• Create a crisis communication plan.
One of the support documents in this area
includes all of the communication used by
the San Bernardino City School District
during and after its school shooting. It is a
model resource that the district has provided
to help others.
• Conduct regular security assessments of
your school facilities. External consultants
can be expensive but school districts, even
smaller ones, can benefit from a facility as-
sessment document in this section that is in
both pdf and Word format, ready to be tai-
The impact to school
communities when there
is an incident of violence
on a campus, especially if
a handgun was present, is
immeasurable
lored for any district.
• Create a crisis response box that includes
maps, keys, student and staff emergency
cards, and medical information. Is there a
location at your school site in a secure loca-
tion that contains all pertinent information
about the site, staff and students? Is there a
crisis box at your local police/sheriff ’s de-
partment with updated site information?
During an incident
Does your staff know what to do during
an emergency, besides calling 911? A section
of the toolkit covers steps that include estab-
lishing a command center (with a location
dictated by law enforcement), a reunification
plan and immediate contact of mental health
providers.
After an incident
The AFTER section of the toolkit fo-
cused on what school leaders need to think
about in the aftermath of an incident of
school violence. Each and every action by
a school district will be subject to criticism
and may be litigated, so notifying both in-
surance and legal counsel are immediate
priorities. Likewise, tools that may be of im-
mediate assistance include:
• Conduct meetings as promptly as pos-
sible with staff. Your first messages should
go to staff and this page includes specific
topics to consider.
• Provide Human Resources support.
Staff will require ongoing long and short
term support after a major incident. Your
Human Resources Department will play
a critical role in communicating the avail-
ability of support services to staff, including
Employee Assistance Programs, county vic-
tim witness programs, worker’s compensa-
tion, f lexible scheduling, reassignment of
staff, survivor benefits and more.
• Consider whether to repair, relocate or
rebuild. While these decisions don’t need to
be made in the first 24 hours or so, the con-
siderations are huge and must be addressed
fairly quickly.
• Debrief the event with key decision-
makers on lessons learned utilizing an after
action report. This section of the website has
a template that is useful in organizing meet-
ings, agenda, and notes to improve respon-
siveness and services in the future.
• Conduct school community follow-up
meetings. Your school community is going
to want to gather for answers. Do you know
how to prepare? Do you know what to say?
Suggestions for meeting scheduling and
agendas are included.
• Scrutinize vendors offering free services.
We recommend you scrutinize anyone offer-
ing any type of support, from items to lock
doors to counseling services. Focus on those
you are familiar with the relationships you
have, as well as considering the recommenda-
tions that come from neighboring districts,
your county office, and those in the state/na-
tion who have been through similar tragedies.
It is recommended that ACSA leaders
share the toolkit with principals, assistant
principals and district staff who may not
know of its existence. Likewise, parents can
review the resources to see if there are natu-
ral areas of collaboration and support for
school programs and services.
To review the resources on the Fatal
School Violence Toolkit, visit www.acsa.
org/schoolviolencetoolkit.
Dr. Lisa Gonzales is the Past President of
ACSA and served as Chairperson of the
Fatal School Violence Task Force.
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