An appropriate response to crisis begins with the development of a robust response plan. Following this plan helps to ensure an adequate and timely response.
The resources on this page are referenced in the STARS Toolkit 2nd Edition, and are provided to help practitioners gain access to critical documents and resources that are often badly needed during a developing crisis.
Members of the crisis team should be aware that there will always be an element of surprise and accompanying confusion when a school is confronted with a crisis. When implementing the crisis plan, the crisis team must be activated to quickly recognize the type, location, and the magnitude of the crisis.
When the team is aware of what resources it has at its disposal and has practiced the plan in advance - through training, leaders will be ready to make critical decisions confidently and act quickly, thereby mitigating losses and causalities.