Emergency Management Plans, Reporting of Bomb Threats and the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Grant Program

ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: 25
POLICY CODE: EBCA

TO: Superintendents of Schools, School Principals
FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner
DATE: January 22, 2008
SUBJECT: Emergency Management Plans, Reporting of Bomb Threats and the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Grant Program

The purpose of this Informational Letter is to draw your attention to three important areas. These three areas are new legislation that went into effect on July 1, 2007 regarding comprehensive emergency management plans, the reporting protocol for reporting bomb threats, and the REMS (formally known as the “Emergency Response and Crisis Management) grant program.

Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

The 123rd Regular Session of the Maine Legislature passed, and Governor Baldacci signed into law, legislation regarding comprehensive emergency management plans for schools. It should be noted that this statute was developed by members of the 123rd Maine Legislature with consultation from the Department of Education, the Maine Emergency Management Agency, Maine School Management Association and the Maine Principals’ Association. The legislation was codified in Title 20-A M.R.S.A. Section 1001 subsection 16. Each school board must approve annually a comprehensive emergency management plan that was developed by the school unit administration who must work with teachers and staff and local, county and state public safety officials, plus first responders to develop a plan that identifies and deals with all hazards that could reasonably be expected to affect schools. The following information pertaining to the comprehensive emergency management plan must be made available to the public:

A description of the scope and purpose of the comprehensive emergency management plan and the process used for developing and updating the plan;
General information on auditing for safety and preparedness;
Roles and responsibilities of school administrators, teachers and staff and the designated chain of command during an emergency; and
Strategies for conveying information to parents and the general public during an emergency. Information that could compromise the safety and security of those responding to and those affected by an emergency must remain confidential, and is not subject to Freedom of Information requests.

If you have questions regarding emergency management plans, please contact Dr. Edwin N. Kastuck, School Approval Services 624-6776 or email edwin.kastuck@maine.gov or Ed Antz, School Facilities 624-6886 or email ed.antz@maine.gov .

Reporting Bomb Threats

On July 3, 2002, Informational Letter # 3 re: Response to School Bomb Threats was sent to all Superintendents. We requested that Superintendents report all bomb threats involving Maine schools to my office. This is required by law, per Title 20-A, section 263 (2). To date, despite press reports of threats being received by school administrators and arrests of several perpetrators statewide, the number of official reports submitted to our office falls short of the number of actual instances.

Additionally, I am trying to conduct a statewide analysis of this situation to determine if there are patterns and if the State can offer assistance to local schools in addressing this problem.

For all of these reasons, I am again asking Superintendents to work with Principals to provide complete information on all threats against your schools since the beginning of this school year. Please report:

School name;
Date and time of threat (reported/discovered);
Medium used to communicate the threat (note, written on wall, phone call, etc.);
Action taken ( school evacuated, police called, searched, etc.); and
Whether or not the perpetrators have been apprehended, or if investigation is on-going.

In addition, please be sure to report any threats received as soon as possible after the event. Please e-mail or telephone my office with this information. I realize this places an additional demand on your time, and I thank you in advance for your cooperation in this important matter.

Please report all bomb threats by phone, fax, or email to Georgette Valliere in my office at: Tel: 624-6606, Fax: 624-6601, or email: georgette.valliere@maine.gov .

Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS)

I wanted to give you notice that the U.S. Department of Education released applications for the 2008 Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools competition on January 9, 2008. The application return date is February 19, 2008. The only eligible applicants for the grant are LEAs. Please note that LEAs with current, active REMS or ERCM (Emergency Response and Crisis Management) grants are not eligible to apply.

The U.S. DOE will schedule a series of Question and Answer telephone calls regarding the grant. Additional information about the dates of the calls and the dial-in information will be posted on the REMS Technical Assistance Center Website http://rems.ed.gov . These are large grants, in the $100,000 range. Funds can be used to train school personnel and students in emergency management (EM), communicate EM policies and reunification procedures to parents and guardians, coordinate with local emergency responders, and/or purchase equipment and coordinate with groups and organizations responsible for recovery issues such as health and mental health agencies. For more information, please contact Dr. Edwin N. Kastuck, School Approval Services, or Ed Antz, School Facilities (see above for their contact information).

Last year, $27 million was approved for 91 grants awarded to LEAs in 32 other states. No LEAs in Maine received a grant award. Since LEAs can apply jointly, this is an excellent opportunity for those LEAs planning to reorganize as regional school units.

I urge you to consider applying for this grant.