Identifying A School Crisis

• When identifying a school crisis, the death of a student, teacher or support staff is generally what is thought of. This could be a sudden death by accident or suicide, or a death that was pending and planned for through a long and serious illness. However, a crisis could be a violent incident at school, any act that has impacted on the feeling of security in the school or community, such as a natural catastrophe or a terrorist act. It could be any other situation that the school administration has determined to be a crisis in its unique school community. If any of these situations occur, the school district will need to assess the situation and determine how it will respond. The school crisis teams are a resource to assist the district through this process.
  
• Teachers often don't realize the impact that a school crisis can have on them until it happens. Often teachers feel overwhelmed in the situation as they look for how they can best help their students. However, teachers may be grieving and need someone to talk to about their own flood of emotions. Teachers also need to know what to look for so they can better identify when a student is having trouble and may need additional help.

Crisis Services

Crisis teams provide assistance to administrators, staff, students and families. The team works with the building administrator to determine what services the school requires from the team in that situation. It is always best to plan ahead and have a plan in place to help decide the steps to take in a crisis. None of us do our best thinking while we are in crisis. The team members are available to meet with school committees to discuss the development of crisis plans.

The Students

• Students are the main focus of the school in any crisis. The team helps to create a supportive environment where students can begin to find hope for the future. The school may develop a drop-in center where students can comfort each other and discuss ways to help their friends and the family of the student who has died. Many students will need individual counseling to sort out the mix of emotions that are flooding them during a crisis.
  
  
• Group counseling is also provided to allow the students to make sense out of the event. Discussion often centers on what is "normal" to think, feel or experience in a crisis. It is not unusual to help the students figure out what they should say or how they should act at the funeral. An important aspect of group work is to help the students focus on the facts of the situation because rumors are rampant during crisis and many are destructive. It is common to search for someone to blame for a death in order for us to make sense of the tragedy. This can be destructive to the individuals.

Outside Agencies

Referral to outside agencies is another role the team may take on. Helping the school plan for prevention activities, as a healthy response to the crisis is another way that crisis teams can help students.

Administrative Response

• Building administrators may need help in planning how to respond during the crisis with issues such as how to deal with memorials, possibly holding the service at school, how to let students go home if needed, arrangements for the students to attend the service, what to do with the student's desk and locker, deleting the student's name from mailing lists so as not to disturb the family later, and how to deal with anniversaries of the tragedy or other ceremonial events like graduations. Crisis teams can help plan for these problems with the administrator. They can also help with the media and coordinate services with community agencies, churches and other crisis response agencies.
  
  
• It is important that schools respond to crisis effectively. Students are given a clear message that they are cared for and their needs are important in the school environment. That is why it is critical that every student's death be dealt with in a consistent manner. The school cannot give the message that only certain students are important enough to provide services to when there is a crisis. Also, it is difficult to predict who will be affected by a death. Sometimes students are more strongly impacted because of their own life situation and poor coping skills. Responding to a crisis can help to teach students healthy responses to stessful situations in their lives. This can lead to a more positive outcome for the student.

School Liability

Schools must be more aware of their liability if they don't assist their students in crisis. When schools do not provide services to students known to be in crisis they can be sued for not attempting to meet the student's needs.