TOP 5 Tips… Crisis and Facility Management

Crisis Management: Top 5 1. Ensure that your Campus Crisis Management Plan is up to date and reflects current names, phone numbers, and details about the facility.

Crisis Management: Top 5 (con’t) 2. Ensure that all evacuation routes and postings about emergency procedures around the building are updated as needed and are easy to read. Every building space that occupies people should have an evacuation route posted on the wall. Make contact with your off-campus evacuation sites each year to ensure their continued support.

Crisis Management: Top 5 (con’t) 3. Walk through EVERY type of drill with the faculty at least once per year; follow your city/county guidelines for fire drills, and ensure that you do at least 1 fire drill (2 if required by your city/county) and 1 “other drill” each month. Document the date, time, and duration of your drills! Everyone needs to know their roles!

Crisis Management: Top 5 (con’t) 4. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE* drills! * Research proves that our frontal lobe does not function well when we are in stressful situations, so ensuring that people have practiced and can rely upon their “automatic response mode” is important in these situations.

Crisis Management: Top 5 (con’t) 5. Know your resources! Who is out there to help you when a difficult situation arises? Do you have important contacts listed with their phone numbers in a handy spot? Are the necessary forms and procedures in a designated place so that everyone knows where to go for information? What resources are in my community that are available to the school? Am I using them effectively?

TOP 5 Tips… Facility Management Utilize the local police and fire departments to help you complete a security and safety analysis of your campus. You can also contact your local ISD and sometimes they will have a facilities expert that can assist with certain areas within this area.

FACILITY MANAGEMENT TOP 5 1. Walk the facility with someone with facility maintenance expertise (board member, parishioner, maintenance manager) on an annual or semester basis, making notes about safety concerns or maintenance that needs to be done and notate its timing necessity (immediately, soon, in the future). Report your findings to your pastor and school board. Remember, safety first!

FACILITY MANAGEMENT TOP 5 (con’t) 2. Ensure all inspections (elevator, if applicable; fire alarm system, kitchen, etc.) and fire extinguishers are current/replaced as needed.

FACILITY MANAGEMENT TOP 5 (con’t) 3. Be sure to put money in your annual budget for maintenance so that if there is an emergency there is some money set aside to help cover it. It is also wise to put money in a capital account for future projects when it can be done (i.e., better than expected fundraising dollars, higher tuition collection due to higher than anticipated enrollment, etc.) .

FACILITY MANAGEMENT TOP 5 (con’t) 4. Communicate with your pastor, parish administrator, maintenance staff, and other important people to ensure that everyone is aware of the school’s needs and how you are addressing those needs. Let them know what help you need and what they can do to provide that help. Keep everyone informed!

FACILITY MANAGEMENT TOP 5 (con’t) 5. …. Archdiocesan Construction and Preventative Maintenance Associate Director (Deanna Ennis) to review preventative maintenance strategies/schedules.