NEPN/NSBA Code:  EBCA

COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH AND SAFETY EMERGENCY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN 

The School Committee hereby adopts Lewiston Public Schools’ 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 responding to emergencies involving health and safety, a plan that is consistent with nationally recognized practices. This comprehensive emergency management plan will identify and address all hazards and potential hazards that could reasonably be expected to affect the school district and school facilities. 

As required by law, the School Committee will approve the plan annually. In addition, any substantive changes made in the plan shall be subject to the approval of the School Committee. 

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 School Committee member or full-time school employee, the School Committee shall form a steering committee composed of school employees (including a school employee designated by the employee’s school as having oversight regarding school safety), School Committee 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.

The following information pertaining to Lewiston Public Schools’ 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 Comprehensive 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 district 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: March 22, 1999 

Revised: June 7, 2000 

Revised: February 11, 2008 

Reviewed: November 7, 2011 

Reviewed: January 5, 2015

Revised: May 1, 2023

Revised: September 22, 2026