In order to assist schools and their community partners in their efforts to create, assess, or update their comprehensive emergency operations plans (EOPs), Federal agencies jointly produced the "Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (School Guide)" and "The Role of Districts in Developing High-Quality…

For the Department of Education's State-administered formula grant programs, obligations must be made by the grantee or subgrantee by the end of the "carryover" or Tydings Period, which allows funds to be obligated for an additional fiscal year beyond the fiscal year for which they were appropriated. These timely obligations may be…

Our nation's postsecondary institutions are entrusted to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for the students, faculty, and staff who live, work, and study on campus. Planning for emergencies may be challenging for institutions of higher education (IHEs) because of geography, environment, governance, around-the clock-operations, and…

RAMP is an acronym for the process "recognize hazards, assess risk, minimize risk, and prepare for emergencies". This paper describes these four steps in the context of undergraduate instruction about chemical health and safety.

Real-world safety case studies provide concrete examples of episodes that can be both instructive and memorable for students. We describe here a framework for teaching safety case studies using the RAMP risk management approach. Structured templates guide students to Recognize the hazards present, Assess the associated risks, and consider what…

Schools have the task of keeping students and staff safe; thus, emergency management planning is critical in rural communities despite the unique circumstances and challenges they may face. "Education Across America: Cities, Suburbs, Towns, and Rural Areas," a Website released by the National Center for Education Statistics, illuminates…

The variation in curricular approaches to and content of chemical safety instruction in undergraduate programs highlight the need for a more comprehensive, integrative approach. This work describes the efforts of two institutions, Wittenberg University and St. Olaf College, to develop and to implement a chemical safety curriculum across the…

A risk manager's job is to assess what could go wrong on campus, how likely this is to happen, and what the consequences would be--and then take action to protect the college, its people, and its assets. These steps might include introducing new policies and procedures, training stakeholders, instilling a culture of safety, and making sure the…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) annual plan identifies the audits, inspections, and other activities that the OIG intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's citizens and students. The FY 2023 Annual Plan details the assignment areas and resources…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) annual plan identifies the audits, inspections, and other activities that the OIG intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's citizens and students. The FY 2024 Annual Plan details the assignment areas they plan to…

In the context of current discussions on natural hazards, natural risks and (human) disasters around the world, the aspect of disaster risk reduction (DRR) is gaining more and more importance. The present contribution elucidates the didactical consequences this development has on competence-oriented Geography teacher training at…

Schools (public and nonpublic) and school districts face a myriad of challenging hazards and threats. In addition to natural hazards, technological hazards, and biological hazards, they now have to prepare for human-caused cyber threats. These incidents can be accidental or deliberate and disrupt education and critical operations; expose sensitive…

The ability to securely connect to virtual systems is an important element within a safe and supportive learning environment. This is particularly the case within institutions of higher education (IHEs), where students are increasingly learning in digital formats; faculty, staff, and visitors are constantly accessing and sharing information…

Each year countries suffer great tragedy when natural disasters destroy schools and disrupt children's education. In addition to causing immediate harm to children, there is mounting evidence that the direct impact of natural disasters can translate into a series of indirect long-term effects. For some time, multilateral and bilateral development…

Kenneth Trump, a school safety expert who consults with districts on how to respond to school safety crises, explains how the new prevalence of threats of violence being delivered over digital and social media creates for administrators a "communication crisis" that unfolds alongside the real or perceived crisis of school safety being…