COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH AND SAFETY EMERGENCY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Board hereby adopts the Comprehensive Health and Safety and Emergency Management Plan.

The Superintendent and building administrators shall be responsible for developing, in consultation with staff and persons or agencies with expertise in planning for health, safety and emergency planning and response, a comprehensive emergency management plan that identifies and addresses all hazards and potential hazards that could reasonably be expected to affect the school unit and school facilities.

As required by law, the Board will approve the plan annually.

The Superintendent and building administrators shall be responsible for ensuring that the plan is implemented in each school and evaluated on an annual basis. It is understood that specific procedures may vary from school to school due to differences in school facilities and the ages of students.

At the request of any Board member or full-time school employee, the Board shall form a steering committee composed of school employees, Board members, parents, and others. A majority of the school employees must be chosen by the local representatives of the applicable bargaining unit if the school employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. The steering committee shall regularly review and refine the comprehensive health and safety plan.

Any substantive changes in the plan shall be subject to the approval of the Board.

The following information pertaining to the Comprehensive Health and Safety and Emergency Management Plan is considered public information:

A. A description of the scope and purpose of the Plan and the process used for developing and updating it;

B. General information on auditing for safety and preparedness;

C. Roles and responsibilities of school administrators, teachers and staff and the designated chain of command during an emergency; and

D. Strategies for conveying information to parents and the general public during an emergency.

Except as specified in paragraphs A through D above, those portions of the Health and Safety and Emergency Management Plan and any other records describing security plans, security procedures or risk assessments prepared specifically for the purpose of preventing or preparing for acts of terrorism shall not be considered public information under the Freedom of Access Act but only to the extent that the release of such information could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the physical safety of school unit personnel or the public. For the purpose of this policy, “terrorism” is defined as in

1 M.R.S.A. § 402(3)(L) as “conduct that is designed to cause serious bodily injury or substantial risk of bodily injury to multiple persons, substantial damage to multiple structures whether occupied or unoccupied or substantial physical damage sufficient to disrupt the normal functioning of a critical infrastructure.”

Legal Reference: 20-A MRSA § 1001(16)

Adopted: October 4, 2000

Revised: April 2, 2019

Revised: November 16, 2022