What to know
- Kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12) schools are responsible for protecting students and staff members from threats.
- Schools can prepare for emergencies by working with local organizations to develop an emergency operations plan (EOP).
- Conducting practice exercises and encouraging preparedness every day lowers the impact of emergencies on schools.
- This resource provides information for K–12 school administrators and staff on emergencies affecting schools.
Why school preparedness matters
A school's core role is to educate students. However, schools also meet the needs of students and families by providing meals, childcare, and physical and mental health services.
When schools plan for emergencies, they can lower the impact of an emergency on operations. This can help schools remain open, reopen quicker, and to continue providing services after an emergency. Schools and public health agencies should work together to keep schools open and safe as much as possible.1
Parents, caregivers, legal guardians, and families
You can use this page to guide questions to ask your child's school about how they are preparing for emergencies. To learn how you can prepare your family for an emergency, visit the Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones, Keeping Children Safe in a Disaster, and Ready Kids pages.
Stay informed
How emergencies impact schools
Emergencies in the past show possible impacts on staff, students, and families. This can include deep and lasting effects on physical and mental health, along with educational outcomes and economic impact. Public health interventions can balance the risk of the threat with the impact of the intervention on children and staff, including for those who are at higher risk (such as children and youth with special healthcare needs).
Schools, students, and staff members can be affected by community emergencies, even if the emergency does not happen at school. When emergencies happen, schools often need to make decisions on:
- How to protect students.
- How to handle a large number of parents rushing to pick up their children.
- What to do if parents are unable to pick up their children.
Additionally, emergencies can cause increased anxiety among school staff members and students. When students feel less connected to their school during emergencies, they may have worse mental health.234
This table has examples of how emergencies can significantly impact students in a school setting. With effective planning, schools can take steps to help lower the lasting effects of these events.
What CDC is doing
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the School Preparedness Unit (SPU) takes a proactive approach by helping schools prepare for the next emergency response.
SPU plans to continue learning from the COVID-19 pandemic in preparation for future emergencies. Other SPU activities include:
- Establishing partnerships
- Developing materials for schools
- Developing systems to maintain situational awareness about student participation in in-person learning
Contact us
Resources
Emergency planning for schools
Information on specific emergencies
- Guide to Community Preventive Services. (2018). Emergency Preparedness and Response: School Dismissals to Reduce Transmission of Pandemic Influenza. Retrieved from https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/emergency-preparedness-and-response-school-dismissals-reduce-transmission-pandemic-influenza.html
- Hertz, M. F., Kilmer, G., Verlende, J., Liddon, N., Rasberry, C. N., Barrios, L. C., & Ethier, K. A. (2022). Adolescent Mental Health, Connectedness, and Mode of School Instruction During COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70(1), 57-63. doi:10.1016%2Fj.jadohealth.2021.10.021
- Rose, I. D., Lesesne, C. A., Sun, J., Johns, M. M., Zhang, X., & Hertz, M. (2022). The Relationship of School Connectedness to Adolescents' Engagement in Co-Occurring Health Risks: A Meta-Analytic Review. The Journal of School Nursing. doi:10.1177/10598405221096802
- Wilkins, N. J., Krause, K. H., Verlenden, J. V., Szucs, L. E., Ussery, E. N., Allen, C. T., . . . Ethier, K. A. (2023). School Connectedness and Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Suppl, 72(Suppl-1), 13-21. doi:10.15585/mmwr.su7201a2
- Riehm, K. E., Mojtabai, R., & Adams, L. B. (2021). Adolescents' Concerns About School Violence or Shootings and Association With Depressive, Anxiety, and Panic Symptoms. JAMA Network Open, 4(11), e2132131. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.32131
- Rossin-Slater, M. (2022, June). Surviving a school shooting: Impacts on the mental health, education, and earnings of American youth. Retrieved from Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research: https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/health/surviving-school-shooting-impacts-mental-health-education-and-earnings-american
- Fluent Research. (2020, December). Fluent Family Wellbeing Study. Retrieved from The JED Foundation: https://jedfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Family-Wellbeing_JED-report_12-28-20.pdf
- Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J., & Viruleg, E. (2021, July 27). COVID-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning. Retrieved from McKinsey & Company: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning
- Agyapong, B., Eboreime, E., Shalaby, R., Pazderka, H., Obuobi-Donkor, G., Adu, M. K., . . . Agyapong, V. I. (2021). Mental Health Impacts of Wildfire, Flooding and COVID-19 on Fort McMurray School Board Staff and Other Employees: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), 435. doi:10.3390/ijerph19010435
- Houston, J. B., Spialek, M. L., Stevens, J., First, J., Mieseler, V. L., & Pfefferbaum, B. (2015). 2011 Joplin, Missouri Tornado Experience, Mental Health Reactions, and Service Utilization: Cross-Sectional Assessments at Approximately 6 Months and 2.5 Years Post-Event. PLoS Currents, 7, ecurrents.dis.18ca227647291525ce3415bec1406aa5. doi:10.1371/currents.dis.18ca227647291525ce3415bec1406aa5
- Kanter, R. K., & Abramson, D. (2014). School Interventions After the Joplin Tornado. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 29(2), 214-217. doi:10.1017/S1049023X14000181
- EPA. (2023, April). Climate Change and Children's Health and Well-Being in the United States. Retrieved from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: https://www.epa.gov/cira/climate-change-and-childrens-health-report