Section 1500.20  Annual Review of Emergency and Crisis Response Plans

Each annual review shall be conducted by the participants identified in Section 25 of the Act and shall encompass the components of the plan enumerated in this Section.  The report submitted pursuant to Section 25 of the Act shall indicate whether each component listed in this Section is present and up to date and shall describe the revisions, if any, that are needed in each.  If any component is deemed inapplicable by the review participants, the report shall include the rationale for this determination.

a)         Concept of Operations

1)         The definition and assignment of roles and responsibilities for direction and control, with specific reference to the chain of command, designated back-up for each role, and other critical functions (whether by reliance on the Incident Command System outlined in "National Incident Management System" of March 1, 2004, published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and posted at http://www.fema.gov/pdf/nims/nims_doc_full.pdf. or by implementation of other strategies and methods having the same goals), including:

A)        responsibilities of individuals who discover an emergency or crisis;

B)        responsibilities of the leader/commander and other members of the emergency team;

C)        responsibilities of monitors who will ensure the proper execution of the planned response;

D)        responsibility for communicating with first responders, building occupants, families, representatives of the media, and other members of the community;

E)        responsibility for maintaining emergency-related records.

2)         The description of the responses planned (i.e., what should happen, when, and at whose direction) to address various emergencies or crises that are known to occur in or affect schools, including at least:

A)        severe weather;

B)        fire;

C)        bomb threats or the discovery of suspicious items;

D)        structural failure;

E)        the failure of utilities or loss of utility service;

F)         bus accidents;

G)        the release of hazardous materials, both indoors and outdoors;

H)        the presence of an intruder, use of a weapon, or taking of a hostage;

I)         public health or medical emergencies;

J)         earthquakes; and

K)        nuclear power plant accidents (if located within 25 miles of such a plant).

3)         The inventory of resources that are available when responding to emergencies, including:

A)        emergency contact lists;

B)        methods for accounting for the whereabouts and status of all children and the process established for releasing students into the care of their parents and others;

C)        response guidance material and the method of providing it to students and staff, including support personnel such as bus drivers, secretaries, and custodians;

D)        emergency supplies and equipment (such as first aid kits, food, water, emergency lighting, fuel, battery-operated radio, and walkie-talkies), maintained for students and staff to use during an emergency or crisis.

b)         Training and Preparedness

1)         The description of actions taken (i.e., the training provided and the materials used) to ensure that all administrators, staff, and students understand the warning signals and know what to do in an emergency, including but not limited to the objectives of the types of school safety drills conducted in conformance with Sections 15 and 20 of the Act.

2)         Information that exists about the school, such as hazard analyses, area maps, site plans, safety reference plans (see 23 Ill. Adm. Code 180.120), community agreements, etc.

3)         Records and results of the required school safety drills and any optional drills conducted.