Chapter 15. Emergency Planning for Children and Schools
Children may be at school, preschool, childcare, an after-school program, sports practice, or another supervised activity when an earthquake, wildfire, hazardous-material incident, severe storm, power outage, or other emergency occurs. Parents may be at work or unable to reach the area because roads are closed, telephone networks are congested, or public-safety officials have restricted access.
Families in Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Sunol, and surrounding Tri-Valley communities should understand how each child’s school or childcare provider plans to protect students and reunite them with authorized adults. A family emergency plan should support—not conflict with—the school’s established procedures.
Learn the School’s Emergency Procedures
Emergency procedures vary among schools, districts, childcare centers, and extracurricular programs. At the beginning of each school year, ask where official emergency information is published and how parents will receive updates.
Learn how the school may respond to:
- Earthquakes and structural damage
- Wildfires, smoke, or nearby evacuations
- Hazardous-material incidents
- Severe weather or flooding
- Power or communications failures
- Shelter-in-place instructions
- Campus evacuation
- Security threats
- Controlled student reunification
Confirm whether notifications may arrive by text message, automated telephone call, email, mobile application, district website, or another system. Parents should make sure the school has their current telephone numbers and email addresses.
Save the school office and district emergency-information numbers, but understand that staff may not be able to answer individual calls during an incident. Repeated calls can overwhelm communications systems. Monitor the school’s designated channels and verified local emergency sources.
Keep Authorized Pickup Information Current
Schools generally release children only to parents, guardians, or other adults identified in their records. List several dependable people who could collect the child if the primary caregivers cannot reach the reunification location.
Possible authorized contacts may include:
- A nearby relative
- A trusted family friend
- A responsible neighbor
- Another parent from the same school
- A caregiver familiar to the child
Ask each person before adding them. Explain the school’s likely identification and release requirements, and confirm that the person is physically able and willing to help during an emergency.
Review authorized pickup information after a move, separation, custody change, telephone-number change, or change in the child’s caregivers. Do not assume that a school will release a child to someone merely because the child knows that person. The U.S. Department of Education recommends keeping emergency cards current with parent or guardian contacts, other approved adults, and pertinent medical information.
Adults reporting to a reunification location should bring government-issued photo identification. A photograph of an identification card stored on a telephone may not satisfy the school’s requirements.
Document Medications and Medical Needs
Make sure the school has accurate information about the child’s allergies, medical conditions, prescriptions, emergency medications, mobility needs, communication needs, and healthcare contacts.
Follow the school’s rules for providing medication. Do not place medicine in a child’s backpack unless the school authorizes it and all medical and administrative requirements have been met. Some medications require written permission, physician instructions, original pharmacy packaging, secure storage, or staff training.
Parents of children who use insulin, inhalers, epinephrine, seizure medication, feeding equipment, mobility devices, or other essential supports should ask how those needs will be managed during sheltering, evacuation, transportation, and reunification. If the child has an individualized education program, Section 504 plan, health plan, or other formal support arrangement, discuss emergency needs with the appropriate school personnel.
Prepare Children Without Frightening Them
Children should receive simple, age-appropriate instructions. Explain that teachers and school staff have plans to help keep them safe and that parents or another authorized adult will come when the school says it is safe.
Children should know:
- Their full name
- Their parent or guardian’s full name
- At least one telephone number when developmentally appropriate
- The names of authorized emergency contacts
- That they must remain with their class or supervising adult
- That only an approved adult should take them from the school
- That a different reunification location may be used during an emergency
Avoid promising, “I will pick you up immediately.” Roads, safety restrictions, or the emergency itself may make that impossible. A more reassuring message is: “Your teachers will stay with you, and I or another person on your emergency list will come as soon as the school permits.”
Include Appropriate Comfort Items
A familiar item may help a young child cope with delays, uncertainty, and changes in routine. Ask whether the school permits families to provide a small emergency comfort kit.
Depending on school policy, it might contain:
- A brief reassuring note from a parent
- A family photograph
- A small comfort object
- An age-appropriate activity
- Necessary personal-care supplies
- A card with important contacts
Do not include food, medicine, or objects prohibited by the school. Children with sensory, developmental, behavioral, or communication needs may benefit from additional carefully selected items or written instructions. Coordinate these needs with school staff instead of placing unapproved materials in a classroom.
Plan for Controlled Family Reunification
A school evacuation does not necessarily mean children will be released from the usual campus. Students may be moved to another school, community facility, or secure reunification site. The location might not be announced until officials determine that it is safe.
Controlled reunification helps the school account for students, verify the identity of adults, document each release, and avoid handing a child to an unauthorized person. The U.S. Department of Education describes systematic student release to verified and authorized family members or guardians as an important school emergency-planning objective.
When reunification is activated:
- Wait for official instructions identifying where and when to report.
- Bring government-issued photo identification.
- Follow traffic, parking, check-in, and release directions.
- Tell staff the child’s name and requested authorized adult.
- Remain patient while records and identities are verified.
- Sign the child out as required.
- Leave through the designated exit without entering restricted areas.
Do not rush onto campus, enter an evacuation site, confront staff, or remove a child without completing the official process. Unexpected arrivals can block emergency vehicles, interfere with student accountability, and make an already stressful operation more difficult.
The CDC explains that schools and childcare centers maintain emergency plans for returning children to their families and encourages parents to remain informed while awaiting reunification. Review its guidance on reuniting with children after an emergency.
Families should review their school emergency arrangements at the beginning of every academic year and whenever a child changes schools, childcare providers, transportation, medication, or caregivers.
Helpful Hint
Schools may use controlled reunification procedures to release students safely to verified adults. Do not rush into a restricted area or remove a child without following the school’s emergency process. Wait for official instructions, bring identification, and expect that verification may take time.
Important Safety Reminder
Never disregard road closures, evacuation boundaries, law-enforcement instructions, or school security controls while attempting to reach a child. School staff remain responsible for student accountability until an authorized release occurs. Following the established process helps protect your child and every other student.
Important Preparedness and Safety Notice
This chapter provides general preparedness education, not real-time emergency instructions. Conditions, evacuation zones, routes, shelters, road closures, and public-safety directions can change rapidly. During an emergency, consult current information from authorized public agencies and follow all instructions issued by emergency officials. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, active fire, serious injury, crime in progress, or another urgent emergency.
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