“We partnered with
local mental health
agencies to hold
support meetings
at our schools and
district offices. We
learned that families
in the district were
more willing to visit
familiar schools than
to attend support
group meetings at
unfamiliar sites.”
Soon my superintendent called to inform me
about a mass shooting at the nearby movie the
ater. Because the theater is located in the heart
of our district, we knew it was likely that some
of our staff and students would be affected.
Our district’s incident response team,
formed in the period following Columbine,
supported first responders on the scene. Our
team had been trained through emergency
simulations and actual school incidents, and we
had developed deep relationships with key city
agencies, including the police and fire depart
ments. These relationships proved beneficial in
supporting the community and communicating
to district staff and families.
Because we knew this tragedy would have a
long-term impact, we organized our response
into five phases. In the first phase, during the
first
72
hours after the tragedy, we offered one
high school as a site for the police department
to interview witnesses and another high school
as an evacuation site for families who lived
near the suspect’s booby-trapped apartment.
We opened several schools for free counseling
services. Our familiarity with social media, our
automated messaging system and our close ties
with local authorities helped us communicate
swiftly and effectively.
In the second phase, we prepared for the
beginning of school, which was only three
weeks following the incident. We focused on
handling student, staff and family reactions to
the tragedy. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan immediately reached out to our dis
trict. We also brought in national experts on
crisis response, developed a crisis resource web-
site and hired a crisis recovery coordinator.
We partnered with local mental health agen
cies to hold support meetings at our schools
and district offices. We learned that families in
the district were more willing to visit familiar
schools than to attend support group meetings
at unfamiliar sites.
For phase 3, which involved the first day of
school, we placed psychologists and counselors
on call for students and provided extra substi
tute teachers for staff. We also chose to discuss
the tragedy directly with students. We devel
oped talking points for teachers that acknowl
edged the tragedy and emphasized that staff
members were available to support students.
We faced criticism about this because some
staff members were concerned we would upset
students. “I’m a chemistry teacher, so I was
concerned about what the conversation would
look like,” said teacher Alec Barron. “What I
discovered was that my students appreciated
that I brought up the tragedy. By having a gen
uine conversation with them, I built a rapport
that usually takes weeks to develop.”
In phase
4,
we provided ongoing support
throughout the school year to students and
A District’s Five-Phase Process
The Aurora Public Schools adopted a five-phase process for community/school district disaster recovery.
Phase 1: Immediate
Response
Develop main messages
Offer district buildings as support
sites
Communicate to district families and
highlight support programs
Phase 2: Preparation
for School
Collaborate with
city
and community
agencies
Coordinate/communicate district-
related memorial services
Develop community resource web-
site
trict staff, students, families and com
munity members
Coordinate and promote parent sup
port meetings
Offer training to teachers on discuss
ing tragedy with students
Develop grade-specific talking points
for teachers for first day
Phase 3: Start of School
Identify a coordinator and committee
for managing disaster recovery efforts
Have psychologists and counselors
on call for students and staff
Place substitute teachers on call in
all schools
Offer additional community meetings
Phase 4: Ongoing Support
Conduct needs assessment with
community partners
Assess
needs of principals,
staff,
stu
dents and families
Develop resources to address needs
Develop resource workshops and
recurring professional development
Focus on prevention
Phase 5: Commemoration
Develop an event to preserve memo
ries and restore what is important
Engage students in the process
Include symbolic activities
Anticipate
student
stress
Highlight importance of self-care
I
Develop personal outreach to all dis
40
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR
OCTO8ER 2013
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