Conclusion 2 pages

CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN SAUDI ARABIAN AND UNITED STATES SCHOOLS

Abstract

In each and every nation has a crisis and learning how to manage them is of great importance. Crises occur everywhere and at anytime. Knowing how to handle them is of great importance. This paper examines how the United States prepares and handles crisis that occur in schools and compares this preparation to Saudi Arabia’s preparation. The intention is to better understand what works and what needs to be thoughtfully reexamined. The results revealed that developing a plan is essential but the plan must include a team of individuals that will have responsibilities for ensuring the safety of others. Another important part of this process is learning how to prevent crises from occurring.

Crisis Management in United States and Saudi Arabia Schools

Introduction

The Oxford Online Dictionary (2004) defines crisis as a time when a difficult or important decision must be made. A crisis is also defined as a sudden event where a person is fearful, has an accident or property is damaged (Moore & Seymour 2005).In the Arabic language a crisis could be a drought, intense feelings or a situation with few options such as a road narrowing (Razi, 1992, p.6). Hamadat (1998) defines as a crisis a threat to humans and the opportunity for renewal and development. What defines a crisis for a school depends on the unique needs, resources, and assets of a school and community (U. S. Department of Education, 2007).

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) (2010) states more than 400 natural disasters take place every year that affect more than 100 million people (p. 1). Crises range in scope and intensity depending on whether it affects one student or the entire community. Crises occur before, after or during school hours and may happen on or off school property(U. S. Department of Education, 2007, p. 1).In a school system even a simple crisis could lead to chaos and confusion (Liou, 2015). For example, in 2016, the state of Louisiana in the United States was tragically hit with flooding which resulted in 22 of the state’s 70 public school districts and more private and parochial schools being closed(Drelinger, 2016, August 19). The floods also left more than 4000 teachers displaced making it difficult for schools to reopen (Cusick, 2016, August 21). Or crises can be physical and/or violent attacks. Statistics indicate that between 2010 and 2015, more than 1,000 schools were attacked and destroyed in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province leading to the loss of many teachers and students (Global Business Coalition for Education, 2015).

Families trust that schools are going to keep their children safe (U. S. Department of Education, 2013). Also, whenever education is interrupted or limited there is the possibility students quit coming resulting in negative or permanent economic and social impacts for students, families and ultimately the communities (IFC, 2010). Families and the community want to believe that their schools are prepared for all types of crises and how the school responds to a crisis event can change the public opinion of the institution (James & Gilliand, 2013).Such was the case when a fire in the public school in Mecca resulted in 15 female students dying and 50 more being injured because of the actions of the police during the fire (BBC News, 2002, March 15).After the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United Statesparents feared for the safety of their children once they leave home for school according to a Gallup poll. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/159584/parents-fear-children-safety-school-rises-slightly.aspx; http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/08/19/Children-worried-about-their-safety-at-school-Gallup-poll-shows/3311471617743/).

Al Jaawan (2015) contributes poor communication; lack of coordination, lack of materials and lack of human resources for exacerbating crises in Saudi Arabia. The United States Department of Education (2007) stated, “The research on what works in school-based crisis planning is in its infancy. While a growing body of research and literature is available on crisis management for schools, there is little hard evidence to quantify best practices” (p. 1).Yet, Even though every crisis is different, understanding common characteristics of a crisis can help improve reaction time and efforts(James& Gilliland, 2013). Woods (2015) discusses that misunderstanding reasons for a crisis can lead to making incorrect decisions and judgments before knowing what has occurred. Other literature agrees thatcommon obstacles to crisis prevention and preparedness are the lack of or insufficient capacity to predict potential crises information, treatment analysis of data, and a lack of understanding or misinterpretation of warning signals that cause may be causing crisis or occurrence of another crisis(Brock, Nickerson, Reeves, Jimerson, Lieberman, and Feinberg, 2015, p. 21).Poor management and lack of well-developed crisis management plan and policies, to a greater extent, causes managerial disasters (Algahtany et al. 2016).

This paper is a review of guidelines for preparing and managingschools’ crisis processes found in the United States and Saudi Arabia. These countries were chosen because of personalexperience in both countries and the differences in responseswitnessed.As a visitor to the United States, schools appeared to have more security, safety and crisis planning. By critically reviewing the literature for recommendations for how to prevent crises from occurring and respond to a crisis in many settings, promising practices of the two countries can be better understood. Resources for crisis management will also be gathered to assist in planning.

Literature Review

In learning institutions today, various types of crises occur which directly or indirectly affect a single student or extend into the entire community.The range of events and hazards caused by both nature and by people are: natural disasters (earthquake, tornado, hurricane, flood, sandstorms, ice storms), severe weather, fires, chemical or hazardous material spills, bus crashes, school shootings, bomb threats, medical emergencies, student or staff deaths (suicide, homicide, unintentional, or natural), acts of terror or war, and outbreaks of disease or infections (Al Zulfi,2011; United States Department of Education, 2007). Causes for crises can be internal or external and even though some can be contributed to human errors others are the results of nature (Woods, 2015).

Different geographical regions are faced with different threats and hazards. In 2011 schools in Alabama were directly affected by tornadoes (Bishop,2013). The Gulf Coast of the southern part of the United States has been affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Olaniran, 2007).Sandstorms occur in Saudi Arabia forcing schools and universities to close for days (Arab News, April 2, 2015). Other parts of Saudi Arabia experience ice storms, earthquakes, road accidents and tribal differences (Al Zulfi, 2011). An average of 4,000 school building fires are reported each year in the United States (FEMA, April, 2014). In 2014, Saudi Arabia had 403educational facilities fires resulting in deaths and dozen of injuries (Al Hajji, 2016). Since 2013 the United States has experienced142school shooting resulting in hostages, death of students and faculty (Mosdenz, 2015, October 6).Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior confirmed that 82% of the total accidents are generally related to violence within the school environment and the number of incidents have significantly increased since 1986. These incidents include attacks on the teachers and assaults among students (Al Rashoud, 2008; Rifai, 2015).All of these wreak havoc on learning because a student feeling safe is essential to them being able to learn (IFC, 2010).

Margaret Spellings, Secretary of Education for the United States,writes, “Knowing how to respond quickly and efficiently in a crisis is critical to ensuring the safety of our schools and students. The midst of a crisis is not the time to start figuring out who ought to do what. At that moment, everyone involved--from top to bottom--should know the drill and know each other” (U. S. Dept. of Education, 2007, p. 1). During the crisis, time may be limited to take decision about ittherefore proper planning is of extremely important (James& Gilliland, 2013). Planning allows crises team to reply orderly and efficient action to confront and manage the crisis, and it must be planning with various objectives, strategies and priorities clear (Nick 2014).Policies and plans are developed so as to minimize loss of life and property and to ensure personnel know what, when and how to do things (Woods, 2015).

A review of the literature revealed within the United Statesmany crises plans and well-developed ones have been created and sharedby states, school districts and individual schools.The abundance of plans suggests schools without plans should simply adopt an existing plan. A more through review of the literature finds caution against simply cutting and pasting plans from other schools and districts. Even though existing plans are useful as models, crisis plans need to be tailored to meet the distinctive needs of local residents and students and to address local school safety laws (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2013, p. 3). The review found that many states develop model plans with templates to guide individual schools and districts for creating specific plans for specific schools (BFdoes this need to be reference). The individual state plans are often developed using guidance from the United States Department of Education (U. S. Dept. of Education, 2013).The Global Business Initiative for Education (2015) has developed guidelines and best practices for many countries such as Syria, Pakistan, Nigeria, to serve as models for regions of the world that are especially susceptible to crisis or specific types of crises. Other organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development create similar templates, guides, and suggestions for countries and regions of the world for planning for crisis (Baubion, 2013).

Within the Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities (U. S. Dept. of Education, 2007) there is advice that the task of crisis planning can be overwhelming, but with time, effort, and good resources it can be accomplished. Also, plans should be living documents that are consistently reviewed, revised, and practiced. As stated in the document, “Good plans are never finished. They can always be updated based on experience, research, and changing vulnerabilities” (p. 7). This is evidenced by the fact that this reference was replaced with the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2013) in cooperation with several five other federal organizations and using worldwide resources. The later document was developed using lessons learned from previous schoolemergencies and crisis in general both in and outside of the United States.

Olaniran (2007) uses the termanticipatory model of crisis management to explain preparing for a pre-crisis. The anticpatory model is an appropriate term because the idea is to recognize that an accident, human error, or disaster may not be preventable so “prevention should be a major priority” (Olaniran, 2007, p. 44). The emphasis on crisis management is significant becausenow the focus is on a more comprehensive and strategic approach that encompassesprevention and mitigation efforts to reduce other problems. Progress in science, technology, and information management during the last decades allows the world to better understand the exposures of the environment to hazards and threats, and vulnerabilities of individuals, economic and environmental resources (U. S. Dept. of Ed., 2013, p. 3). Also the type and number of crisis continue to increase. An international study published in 2014 showed that between 2009 and 2013 there were 9,600 school attacks in 70 counties (Coughlan, 2014, December 17).

The risk management cycle includes prevention and preparation before an event occurs and intervention, recondition and reconstruction after the event. The focus is on a continual cycle of preparedness, response, and recovery (Figure 1--create or cut and paste Figure 2 from USDOE, 2013, pg. 3). Brock et al. (2015) warns that a lack of or insufficient capacity to predict potential crisis information, analyze data crisis information, ignorance of warning signals can turn a minor incident into a major crisis. This type of focus is designed to avoid those problems. This type of focus also means that financial, physical and mental resources are more likely to be available (need reference). In addition, students and employees are being taught how to react in case a disaster happens. In schools, emergency exit routes, assembly points are established and accountability of personnel are established(IFC, 2010). Woods applies the saying “a ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” (Woods, 2015).

When reviewing the literature, commonalities were found in the planning process even though the terminology may not be the same it was similar (Hill, 2005; Jonathan, 2013; IFC, 2010; Lichenstein & Kline, 1994; Liou, 2015; Philpott & Serluco, 2010; USDOE, 2007; USDOE 2013). The most comprehensive and articulated steps for the school planning process were obtained from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security (2010). The steps are:

1. Form a collaborative planning team

2. Understand the situation

3. Determine goals and objectives

4. Identify courses of actions

5. Plan, preparation, review and approval

6. Plan implementation and maintenance

Figure 2 provides a graphic organizer for the six steps of the planning process (Place Figure 1 from p. 5 of USDOE, 2013 here).

Form a collaborative planning team

Building the correct collaborative planning team (or management team)to develop and implement the plan is essential in avoiding ambiguity in the decision making process (Brock, Nickerson, Reeves, Jimerson, Lieberman, and Feinberg, 2015). The team should consist of leadership from the highest levels because they set the policy, agenda, and secure funds and bring necessary people across agencies together. Yet is should also leaders at the lowest level because the help the community accept and inform the planning process (U. S. Dept. of Education, 2013). School and districts should include who will take to the media and a crowd control plan. Also included on the team should be individuals representing fire, police, city emergency, public works, health care and mental health officials (Lichtenstein& Kline, 1994).

The team must also decide on a common framework for communicating, understanding, and coordinating, and executing the strategies created by the team (USDOE, 2013). It is important to remember the needs of specific students, staff and community, such as students with weak English language skills and students with special needs (Westat, United States of America, US Dept. of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, & United States of America, 2003). A common vocabulary is needed because schools are often not familiar with technical terms used by other agencies that may be used during the crisis nor are other agencies familiar with the personnel and buildings of a school(Westat, 2003).

The team will define and assign roles and responsibilities for each person. Also essential is a schedule for ongoing meeting and efforts to facilitate greater collaboration, coordination and communication among team members. These types of meetings have the opportunity to establish crucial relationships among the team members and building a team spirit (Brock, Nickerson, Reeves, Jimerson, Lieberman, and Feinberg, 2015; USDOE, 2013). Failure to provide the proper configuration (too large, too small, not the correct people) for the crisis management team results in having divergence of views and areas not being covered (Brock et al, 2015).

Understand the situation

The second phase of planning requires the team to understand the situation, which requires a consistent analysis and comparison of the threats and hazards, a particular school faces and the risks value for the purposes of deciding which threats or hazards the plan should prioritize (USDOE, 2013). Hill (2005) suggests using assessment tools to help with this process. Numerous risk assessment tools were discovered during the literature review to help with this process. A Guide to School Vulnerability Assessments: Key Principles for Safe Schoolscreated by USDOE in 2008 provides much detail and guidance for understanding the situation. One aspect that may be overlooked in the assessment is the culture of the building and groups that are involved in the crisis. USDOE (2013) states, “In schools with positive climates, students are more likely to feel connected to adults and their peers. This fosters a nurturing environment where students are more likely to succeed, feel safe, and report threats” (p. 9). If the school does not have a positive climate or students and the community are wary of authorities, threating warnings may go unreported.

Appendix A includes a sample template from _____ that is helpful because ______.(find a risk analysis tool you like and we will include it in your paper. At one time you had several). Another suggestion provided withinGuide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (USDOE, 2013) is to place all information about possible threats or hazards into a table. Within the table should be the probability or frequency of a threat occurring, the magnitude or extend of expected damage, available time to warn others, how long the threat or hazard could occur and cascading effects of threat or hazard (p. 11). This step provides valuable information for the entire planning process.

Determine goals and objectives

Once the assessment has occurred, at the bare minimum goals for high-risk assessments should be made. These decisions are to be made by the planning team. Recommendations are made to include goals for before, during and after the event has occurred with specific objectives identified (USDOE, 2013).

You need a template, and example or something to add here. Also why this is a good one.

Identify courses of actions

Now it is time for the planning team to decide how te In Step 4, the planning team develops courses of action for accomplishing each of the objectives for threats, hazards, and functions. During this step the what, who, when, where, why and how must be answered.This step requires a careful look at the course of action to decide if it is accomplish each objective identified in Step 3 (for threats, hazards, and functions). Courses of action address the what, who, when, where, why, and how for each threat, hazard, and function. The planning team must examine each course of action to determine whether it is possible and who will whether the participant necessary to implement it can implement the plan (USDOE, 2013).

You need a template, and example or something to add here. Also why this is a good one.

Plan, preparation, review and approval

During the plan, preparation, review and approval process is what the previous steps lead and where the Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) become reality. Also, planning allows crises team to have a orderly and efficient action to follow using with the objectives, strategies and priorities clear (Nick 2014). To begin the process the format of the plan must be given careful thought and consideration. The format provided in the _____was an example that was easy to follow format. I think this is in the USDOE, 2013 document but it may be a link out of that document. The EOP should be written free of jargon, qualifiers, and abbreviations. Easy to follow flow-charts and diagrams are recommended. There should be enough information to follow but not so much as to confuse or distract. Creating accessible tools for all audiences will provide text that can be converted into audio, Braille, video, and pictures and diagrams to make it accessible to all learners (USDOE, 2013).

Next the plan must be reviewed and shared with the appropriate leadership and official approval. The next step involves sharing it with all community partners and any additional participants that have a responsibility in the plan. Also, should be included are federal, state, or local agencies that will help with the plan. Considerations have to be made with whether the EOP should be shared on the Internet or placed in secured electronic places. Schools have to remember to share the plan with other people who may use the building and at the same time follow any laws or regulations for open records. Also, records must be kept with who and when people received the plan (USDOE, 2013, p. 20).In 2005, Hill suggested publishing the plan. Guidelines provided by USDOE in 2013 expressed caution about where to publish the plan so as to avoid building plans, evacuation routes, and specific codes being shared with individuals that intend harm.

The review of the literature revealed numerous guidelines for plans, model plans and actual plansbut one example that appeared to meet all the criteria for an excellent plan was created by the Virginia Department of Education in 2002. This model is complete in that it incorporates the community provided details and suggestions that were representative of all the guidelines provided by the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (USDOE, 2013). The model emphasized making the actual plan feasible and provided guidelines for doing so. Following this plan would make the actual plan adequate because reminded the team of specific situations to include.

Plan implementation and maintenance

Now that the plan has been written and approved it is time to train the stakeholders on the plan and their individual roles. Ambiguity and lack of clarity can cause confusion and this needs to be avoided (Brock, Nickerson, Reeves, Jimerson, Lieberman & Feinberg, 2015). This will require holding meeting at least once a year to educate all parties. This is essential for many reasons but one needs to remember that people leave positions and new people need to be trained. Evacuations sites need to be viewed and specific areas such as the media and triage areas have to be located. Relevant literature on the plans, policies, and procedures must be shared. Another part of the process is posting key information about the buildings where the crisis can occur or evacuation sites. Another key part of the process is to familiarize students, staff, and community partners with the plan. The staff will have to be trained with skills necessary to complete their roles (Hill, 2005; USDOE, 2013, pp. 20-21).

Part of the training involves exercisingthe plan. The exercises can be tabletop exercises where people sit around and walk through different scenarios or actual drills. A functional or full-scale exercise involves realistic stimulations when plans can be implemented and participants can walk through the plan (USDOE, 2013, p. 21). As a result of the exercises it may be determined that the plan needs to be reviewed and revised. The crisis management cycle is a reminder that reviewing, revising, and maintaining should be recurring activities (Bernstein, 2004; Philpott & Serluco, 2010; USDOE, 2013, p. 22; Woods, 2015). Hill (2005) includes in his suggestions that food and supplies are stored in evacuation sites for emergencies.

https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003347.pdffor more information.

Comparison of plans with Saudia Arabia

The literature review supports previous observations that United States has well developed plans for preventing, responding, and evaluating crisis.After studying crisis management, Nick (2014) reports found 52% of schools he studied had plans. He did conclude a need for administrators to communicate with parents and guardians about their plans to avoid confusion using and inferred media communications such as Facebook and Twitter would facilitate faster communication (Nick, 2014).

Further evidence was found that even with ayearly average of 4,000 school building fires in the United States there are minimal damages to life and property. This lack of loss is contributed to safety codes and well-implemented plans (FEMA, 2014, April).

I personally learned from my own eighth grade student that his US school had a General Response Protocol (GRP) for different emergencies and crisis that provides his schools with the direction to use it when an emergency or crisis incident occurs. Each protocol has specific actions required for teachers and students to perform depending on the situation. My son knew the warning signals and how he was to respond in multiple situations. His school had two types the protocol. There is soft lockdown when there is no identified imminent danger to the students or staff. Still, designated staff members, building response teams, and school safety agents are assigned designated command posts and are to await further direction. In case of a hard lockdown where imminent danger is known, no one is to engage in any building sweep activity. All individuals, including school safety agents will take appropriate lockdown action and await policemen. Students and teachers are trained to move out of sight and maintain silence. There are designated signals for staff and students to evacuate the building. After an Internet review evidence of others schools GRP was found (http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/OSYD/EmergencyReadiness.htm).

Other evidence to support the United States attention to prevention, response and ____ are the school buses used to transport students to and from school and school related events. The design and operation of these buses are based largely federal and state laws. Mirrors are required to help the driver see the children who are on the bus. Also, there are crossing gates to help protect children loading and unloading the bus. Incandescent lamps have also been added. Modern school buses are often well equipped with amenities, such as air - conditioning, dual radios high ceilings and video cameras and recorders are common practice within the school buses, primarily to observe and record the behavior of passengers. In addition, the loading and unloading of buses at schools are in different location from students riding in cars to avoid accidents. These strict laws and rules protect children and avoid any crises or bus accident.

Further evidence of the safety measures involved is reported by National Highway Safety Traffic Association (NHSTA) that between 2004-2013 there were 340,039 fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes with only 1,214 (0.4%) being classified as school-transportation-related (https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812170).

From the Saudi Arabian perspective, Al Jaawan (2015) and Al Zulfi (2011) contribute Saudi Arabia’s schools suffering during crisis to its lack of advanced planning before the crisis occurs. Al Jaawan (2015) states that the lack of leadership in crisis management means there is more likely alack of material and human resources to deal with sudden events, which exacerbates material and human losses. He also contributes poor communication between various agencies and departments to creating managerial crises and ignoring warning signs of future crisis. There are a variety of reasons that lead to the crisis, some dating back to the internal environment of the organization, others due to the external environment

The Information Center for Riyadh reports 91% of Saudi society asserts that public school facilities suffer neglect. There are complaintsfrom students and their parents of a lack of care of hygiene facilities in public schools, proper maintenance of water coolers and inadequate air conditioningall of which providea negative impact on the educational environment and lead to safety issues (https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ar&u=http://www.alriyadh.com/517694&prev=search).

Further evidence of the lack of crisis management plans for prevention or response are my personal experience in a 2011 flood in Saudi Arabia.There was torrential flooding in the western Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where 10 people died in flooding, and another three people were missing. That day I was at the university where there was no communication about the amount of precipitation. There were thousands of students and staff held inside and outside the campus when high flood waves came. Students were carried away by the waves of water. These rains revealed the vulnerability of the weakness of the infrastructure weaknesses and improper sanitation in our country. In addition this incident revealed the lack of foresight and vision for strategic planning to face crises in my country (CNN, 2011; http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/29/saudia.arabia.flooding/).