If you are a departing school leader, it’s vital to consider school safety planning as part of your transition plan. Here are four things Joffe Emergency Services advises to ensure your team’s safety operation continues to run smoothly in your absence:
- Assign a new incident commander: Ensure you’ve assigned the incident command role to someone else on campus. Ensure they know what’s expected, how to do it, and why they’re doing it.
- Trade the “book of secrets”: Remember that your successor will be held responsible for things you’ve done, and your successes will be bolstered if they are set up to succeed. To that end, ensure that if there’s a history they need to know about, you’ve shared it.
- Build a drill schedule and training plan for the fall: A new head/school leader has too many other things to tackle in their first few weeks and won’t be able to get to those things until later in the school year. Set them (and therefore students) up for success and safety by doing some of that planning now!
- Help them keep safety on their radar: Talk with your successor about the school’s experience with emergency preparedness, safety, security, etc. Talk to them about Joffe – with the webinar series, email distribution list, and Joffe Academy (free or paid account), they will gain access to ample tools to get up to speed on best practices.
