Louisiana schools are responsible for the safety and care of students during emergency situations such as natural disasters or other potential hazards.

Plan and Prepare

School systems should review, update, and implement emergency operations plans (EOPs).

• Access Readiness and Emergency Management for School's (REMS) 6-step process for creating plans to build and continually foster safe and healthy school communities before, during, and after possible emergencies.

• REMS Technical Assistance Center’s website contains free resources, trainings, and technical assistance (TA) for schools and their community partners, including many tools and resources on emergency planning and response to infectious disease outbreaks. Schools may find these considerations are helpful for developing high-quality emergency operations plans.

   

Point of Contact

All LEAs are encouraged to designate an Emergency Preparedness and Recovery Point of Contact. This contact serves as the person responsible for entering and maintaining emergency preparedness and recovery information for their LEA.

In the event of an impending emergency, LDOE will contact the designated Emergency Preparedness and Recovery representative to remind them to complete and maintain the Emergency Preparedness and Recovery Dashboard (coming soon) throughout the emergency event.

During the recovery phase, LDOE will use the information added to the dashboard to support LEAs as needed.

Please contact LDOEcommunications@la.gov with questions.

Grants to States for the Emergency Management (GSEM)

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Grants to States for the School Emergency Management (GSEM) program funds to the Louisiana Department of Education in partnership with LSU’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training/Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education (LSU NCBRT/ACE). The program goal is to provide training and technical assistance to LEAs for the development and implementation of high-quality school Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs).

Louisiana mandates that all elementary and secondary public schools prepare, maintain and exercise a crisis management and response plan to help ensure every student, teacher and school employee is in a safe and secure facility and prepared to respond in the event of an emergency or disaster incident.

For new schools and schools that haven’t yet established their EOPs, the program will offer EOP development workshops to help prepare and provide resources and best practices to develop their EOPs. For LEAS that already have EOPs, the program will provide expert review and feedback to schools on their EOPs. The review process will identify strengths and recommend areas of improvement in the EOP. Additionally, the review will ensure adequate assistance from community partners or response agencies identified in the EOP is available.

After EOPs are reviewed, the program will provide technical assistance workshops that will walk schools/LEAs through developing training and exercise plans in support of their EOPs to ensure that people are prepared to respond when an emergency happens.

Visit LSU’s GSEM webpage to learn more.

To enroll in this program, contact LSU NCBRT/ACE at schoolsafety@ncbrt.lsu.edu or 1-877-829-8550.

School Safety

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and school systems are responsible for the safety and care of students and educators during emergency situations such as natural disasters or other potential hazards.

Louisiana law (RS 17:416.16) mandates that all elementary and secondary public schools prepare, maintain, and exercise a crisis management and response plan to help ensure every student, teacher, and school employee is in a safe and secure facility and prepared to respond in the event of an emergency or disaster incident.

These plans should be developed collaboratively with local law enforcement, fire, public safety, and emergency preparedness officials. The plan should be reviewed annually and revised as needed. The plan should be submitted by the school administrator to the local school superintendent for approval annually. The local school superintendent makes an annual report to the local governing authority on the status of each plan of the school system. Each school administrator should conduct a safety drill to rehearse components of the plan within the first thirty days of school.

School Safety Resources

REMS Technical Assistance Center’s website contains free resources, trainings, and technical assistance (TA) for schools and their community partners, including many tools and resources on emergency planning and response to infectious disease outbreaks. Schools may find these considerations are helpful for developing high-quality emergency operations plans.

Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans

Online Courses

REMS TA Center Virtual Trainings - A diverse set of trainings, including webinars and self-paced online courses on school emergency management available at no cost to schools. Certificates are issued electronically by the U.S. Department of Education.

Emergency Management Institute - Offers self-paced courses designed for people who have emergency management responsibilities and the general public. All are offered free-of-charge to those who qualify for enrollment.

The following courses are recommended for those interested in school emergency response planning:

• IS-100.c: Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100

• IS-360: Preparing for Mass Casualty Incidents: A Guide for Schools, Higher Education, and Houses of Worship

• IS-362.a: Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools

• IS-700.b: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

CHILD CARE PROVIDERS 

In preparation for possible emergency situations and in compliance with federal regulations the Department has developed the Louisiana Child Care Emergency Plan PDF and following resources. This plan and these resources are designed to support providers in their emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. As outlined in the Statewide Childhood Emergency Plan the Department will provide communications to advise providers and parents annually of the need for emergency preparedness and provide notices of emergency situations or impending emergency situations as they occur. These notices will be provided below and updated annually.

In the event of a hurricane or other disaster that produces widespread evacuation or extensive property damage, action may be needed to help ensure the safety of all individuals being cared for by providers. If a disaster occurs and the provider is located in one of the AFFECTED PARISHES, it may be necessary to suspend their license or certification WITHOUT NOTICE until the facility or home can be verified as safe to provide care. This may be accomplished by a required State Fire Marshall inspection, State Health inspection, on-site Licensing inspection and/or other agency-mandated procedure to ensure the safety of the adults and/or children in your care. The Provider’s license or certification would remain suspended until the facility is verified as safe. When the provider has remained open or is ready to reopen, the following form must be completed. 

For questions contact Division of Licensing via email at ldelicensing@la.gov or by phone at 225-342-9905.