Center Street School crisis management plan OK’d

ORRINGTON – School administrators decided last year to create a crisis management plan for Center Street School, and, on Wednesday, the school board unanimously approved the final draft.

“They were very pleased overall,” Middle School Principal James White said Thursday.

School leaders reviewed the state Department of Education’s model crisis management plan along with those from Bucksport and Glenburn, before drafting one that met Center Street School’s needs.

The 41-page action plan contains procedures for handling a variety of crisis situations that range from natural disasters to social events, economic issues and environmental incidents.

A bright-orange quick-reference guide, which lists phone numbers for emergency responders and school leaders, was created as a supplemental document and will be provided for each classroom and each office.

The plan includes handling situations during school, vacations, on weekends or the night before school.

A cross-section of school personnel will form an emergency team whose job it is to determine a plan of action to stabilize situations.

White – along with Superintendent Alan Snell, elementary school Principal Jeff Paul and teachers Jessica Harrington, Janis Boyd and George Doughty – will make up the crisis team, along with secretary Janice Levesque, guidance councilor Linda Cousens, special education teacher Ellen Brochu and special education director Beth Lorigan.

A training session to instruct teachers and staff about how to use the plan will be held in the near future, Snell said Thursday.

He said any policy changes that need to be made because of the new plan would be presented for approval at the October meeting.