The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Supportive Schools administers the REMS TA Center to serve two critical functions aimed at helping education agencies, with their community partners, manage safety, security, and emergency preparedness programs. We build the preparedness capacity (including prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts) of schools, school districts, institutions of higher education (IHEs), and their community partners at the local, state, and Federal levels. We also serve as the primary source of information dissemination for schools, school districts, and IHEs for emergencies via the REMS TA Center Website.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, with representatives from the U.S. Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, released The Role of Districts in Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (District Guide). The REMS TA Center transformed this guidance document into a NEW “At a Glance” version on the REMS TA Center Website. This user-friendly, Web-based District Guide At a Glance section provides important safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness information to school district personnel in a digestible format.

The REMS TA Center is excited to announce our NEW Virtual Trainings by Request (VTBRs) program! Like our live Trainings by Request, these interactive curricula are designed to assist education agencies, including school districts, schools, institutions of higher education (IHEs), state education agencies, and regional education agencies, with their professional development and emergency preparedness capacity-building efforts.

The U.S. Department of Education released this guide to support caregivers of students using technology and digital tools to enhance their learning in remote and in-person environments. It reviews the benefits of digital learning, including personalized learning, competency-based learning, and partnership development within the school community. Additionally, the guide explores how to enable digital learning through discussions around student access to personal learning devices and Internet service as well as student safety, privacy, and responsibility online. Use this guide to build knowledge around digital learning in school communities and to inform school emergency management planning.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services released a K-12 report based on data from the Averted School Violence database created in partnership with the National Police Foundation. This report highlights case studies in K-12 schools where a planned threat to engage in violence was successfully averted by members of the school community, such as school resource officers. For each case study examined, the report offers lessons learned and recommendations to support emergency operations planning and school violence prevention. Use this report to conduct exercises and drills, update school emergency operations plans and behavioral threat assessment annexes, share information with community partners, and inform training program and school policies.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services released a higher education report based on data from the Averted School Violence database. The National Police Foundation partnered with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators to expand the database in order to include data around averted incidents of violence on the campuses of institutions of higher education (IHEs). This report presents eight case studies where a planned threat to engage in violence on an IHE campus was successfully averted by members of the school community, including law enforcement. For each case study examined, the report offers lessons learned to support emergency operations planning and violence prevention. Use this report to conduct exercises and drills, update higher education emergency operations plans and behavioral threat assessment annexes, share information with community partners, and inform training programs and campus policies.

With winter comes winter precipitation, floods, and winds. Schools can plan for these natural hazards using publications and other free products on our Natural Hazards resources page.