• Placing posters on hand washing and infection control measures in schools and online.
• Providing information to schools, parents, and staff about hand sanitizers, cough and sneeze etiquette, signs and symptoms of the outbreak.
• Ensuring custodial staff has appropriate training on proper cleaning and disinfecting work and play areas.
• Ensuring schools and departments have adequate supplies (soaps, hand sanitizers, and paper towels).
• Checking First Aid Kits and add N95 facemasks for school nurses and other staff.
• Establishing and testing an emergency communication protocol, including an internal communication staff tree.
• Providing information to staff and parents on pandemic planning for families.
• Developing NIMS (National Incident Management System) compliant protocols, location, equipment and staff assignments.
• Developing plans for operating with staff workforce reduction.
• D
  eveloping plans to secure buildings, information technology, and finance.
• Encouraging parents to have alternative child care plans should closures be necessary in containment and building disinfection/decontamination efforts
• Developing plans for educational continuity if schools close. These should include study packets, suggested educational activities, and internet educational links for students and parents. Web-based education options include online classes, virtual school, education blogs and home school educational websites.
• Finding out if vendors in the supply chain have an emergency plan for continuity or recovery of supply deliveries.
• Planning for a full school closure or a partial school closure (i.e., some but not all schools are closed, or students are dismissed but staff works with local agencies to assist families).
• Developing a mental health plan for students and staff, in conjunction with local mental health services staff to implement during an outbreak and during the recovery phase.
• Developing Human Resources employee emergency contact lists and reciprocal contact procedures; Human Resources should conduct a study of critical infrastructure staff with young children (because they are more likely to remain home during a widespread illness event) to determine if redundancy plans are necessary; develop a Fitness for Duty checklist to determine if an employee is ready to return to work and under what conditions.
• The local school superintendent should establish a command structure in the event that he or she is unable to continue work during the outbreak event or is unable to return to work during the recovery phase; develop central office teleconferencing protocols in the event that schools are closed.
• Developing plans to conduct tabletop exercises to practice and refine pandemic plan.
• Applying all plans and procedures to after-school programs.

The potential of an EVD outbreak in the United States is rare, however, it is never too late to plan for the unthinkable. During times of crisis, schools will rely heavily on the assistance of local community responders and agencies. Relationships with these groups need to be established and cultivated long before the crisis occurs. Working with local agencies before a pandemic will decrease fear, anxiety and confusion and improve the response during a crisis.

RELATED: How to Prepare for a Biological Incident at a School

Regardless of whether it is Ebola, Measles, Influenza, or another biological agent, the key to successfully meeting the challenge is to plan for the event, prepare to work the plan, and implement the plan when the event occurs.  Schools should develop a biological incidents plan, especially since planning and preparedness performed for an EVD is also applicable to other emerging infectious disease outbreaks (i.e. Influenza) or an act of bioterrorism.

Sources for Assistance:
Facts About Ebola
World Health Organization Ebola Facts
CDC Ebola Fact Sheet
Other CDC Materials

Dr. Sonayia (Sony) Shepherd has authored and co-authored 16 books about school safety, youth violence and crisis intervention. She has worked full time at the Georgia Division of Public Health and worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC).  Sony oversees all school public health projects globally for Safe Havens International. For more information, please visit www.safehavensinternational.org.

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