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Federal Emergency Management Agency (2012).
The video portrays an interview with Julie Hedricks, Director of Design and Construction, Wichita Public School District USD #259. Hedricks explains the process and her role in the construction of the first School Safe Room to FEMA's Standard 361. Since the first School Safe Room was built in 2000, Wichita Public Schools have built over 60 additional Safe Rooms in their School System.
Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and US Deptartment of Homeland Security (2012).
A new publication series, aimed at engineers, architects, building owners, city planners, and emergency managers, makes available years of government, industry, and academic research on designs and materials to make buildings and tunnels terror-resistant and terror-resilient. The Building and Infrastructure Protection Series (BIPS) provides architects and engineers a set of aids for designing critical infrastructure to withstand all kinds of hazards…at a cost that won’t break the budget. “This series lays the foundation for designing a new generation of resilient buildings,” says Mila Kennett, who oversees the series in S&T’s Infrastructure Protection and Disaster Management Division, where she leads the Structural Resilience Branch. An architect by training, Kennett came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where she edited a similar publication series after 9/11. Several of the BIPS guides expand upon and update her highly regarded FEMA guides The primer provides school designers and administrators a set of guidelines to design a school where children, faculty and staff will be safe during a physical attack or targeted shooting.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), (2012).
Corey Schultz discusses the benefits and design concepts of multi-use school and community shelters.
Environmental Protection Agency (2012). (EPA 402-F-03-012)
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed this resource to help school districts and facility planners design the next generation of learning environments so that the school facility will help -- rather than hinder -- school in achieving their core mission of education children (1-pg resource).
Satterly, S. (2012). Retrieval Location
This article is a refresher of current best practices for tornado sheltering for schools, as well as an explanation of why they have become best practices. The process to change protocals so changes are made in a thoughtful and logical manner are described.
Tanner, C. K., & West, D. (2011). 2 (1)
Does the size of a school’s student population influence academic achievement levels among its students? Evolving from the “smaller is better” discussions and emergent theory on educational outcomes and school size, this question guided a study of 303 Georgia high schools to determine if the total high school population or school size influenced students’ outcomes defined in terms of test scores and graduation rates. Based upon the findings of this study, school size played no significant importance in students’ academic achievement. Therefore, regarding Georgia high schools, the size of the student population (school size) has little to no impact on academic achievement or graduation rates. This conclusion, however, may complement the arguments and developing theory that there is a point of maximum benefit or achievement levels in curvilinear measures of school size as compared to student outcomes and economy of scale.
Chan, T.C., & Dishman, M. (2011). 1 (1)
President Obama’s Education Blueprint of March, 2010 pinpointed safety and health conditions of school facilities as essential elements to improve school learning environment. The Blueprint concluded with increased flexibility and use of data to target health and safety needs of schools. This paper explored the current literature about school safety and health environment issues and discussed how safe and healthy school environment could be created. In addition to budget constraints, poor design, poor construction, poor supervision, poor maintenance, high abuse, high vandalism, high maintenance, and high risks are identified as challenges to school safety and health conditions. Implementation of flexibility and use of data to achieve a safe and healthy school environment for learning was also discussed.
United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2010). (FEMA P-424)
This manual is the updated version of the original FEMA 424 published in January 2004. The original manual was the first of a series of publications (FEMA 577 – Design Guide for Improving Hospital Safety in Earthquakes, Floods, and High Winds: Providing Protection to People and Building and FEMA 543 – Design Guide for Improving Critical Facility Safety from Flooding and High Winds,) to provide guidance for the protection of various types of structures from natural disasters. FEMA P-424 addresses the protection of schools and their occupants against natural hazards (earthquakes, floods, and high winds.) Its intended audience is design professionals and school officials involved in the technical and financial decisions of school construction, repair, and renovations.
Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) (2009).
This booklet presents case studies of three schools that were struck by tornadoes. The resulting damage to these schools was examined by teams of structural engineers, building scientists, engineering and architectural faculties, building administrators, and representatives of the architectural firms that designed the buildings. From these and other examinations, guidance has been developed for selecting the safest areas in existing buildings – areas that may offer protection if a tornado strikes – referred to in this booklet as the best available refuge areas. The guidance presented in this booklet is intended primarily to help building administrators, architects, and engineers select the best available refuge areas in existing schools. Building administrators, architects, and engineers are encouraged to apply this guidance so that the number of injuries and deaths will be minimized if a tornado strikes an occupied school.
http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1456-20490-4099/fema_p_431.pdf
Dufresne, R. (2009). 75 (2)
In the wake of a major disaster, damage assessment can be particularly challenging for organizations with dozens or even hundreds of affected properties. Those with well-documented information about predisaster facility conditions can more readily pinpoint those facilities that are at the greatest risk of damage and to determine how to prioritize the assessment process. In the past, a comprehensive and well-organized plan room was considered a best-in-class approach to supporting the operations team in its disaster response. However, if such a plan room is damaged in the disaster, the organization's ability to respond effectively can be significantly impaired and the loss of data can be crippling. Today, best practices dictate that critical information be stored electronically in multiple locations to minimize the effect of a single event. For school systems, having accurate information along with an established centralized system can increase response time and truly affect the days, weeks, and even months following a disaster. From minimizing the interruption of classroom time to construction dollars saved, having a handle on the asset portfolio is the first major step in being prepared to respond.
