District Offices are encouraged to:

• Identify primary and alternate emergency points of contact.
• Establish procedures for school sites to report emergencies, closures, operational impacts and resource needs.
• Establish after-hours and weekend notification procedures.
• Identify who has authority to order closures, delayed openings, early dismissals, evacuations, relocations and other protective actions.
• Confirm current contact information for the appropriate local emergency manager and LACOE.
• Establish a process for consolidating school-site information into a district-wide situation report.

School sites should know who to contact at the District Office and how to report urgent impacts and resource needs.

Appropriate district personnel should register for:

• Ready LA County emergency alerts and preparedness information.
• Applicable city or local jurisdiction emergency notification systems.
• Electric, gas, water, telecommunications, and other utility emergency and outage notifications.

Whenever possible, designate multiple personnel to receive critical notifications to provide redundancy during extended incidents.

Please verify access to the California Department of Education School Emergency Reporting System (SERS) before an emergency occurs.

SERS is used by LEAs to report disaster impacts to schools and request assistance from CDE. Each LEA has a unique SERS access code.

Confirm:

• Your LEA's SERS access code is available.
• Appropriate personnel can access the system.
• Staff know who is responsible for submitting reports during an emergency.

CDE School Disaster and Emergency Management / SERS Website

Log into SERS

For assistance with an LEA access code, contact the CDE Emergency Services Team at EmergencyServices@cde.ca.gov.

Review schools, administrative offices, transportation yards, warehouses, food service facilities and other critical locations.

Pay particular attention to:

• Flood-prone and low-lying areas.
• Drainage channels and locations with previous flooding.
• Hillsides and recent wildfire burn-scar areas.
• Roofs, gutters, drains and drainage systems.
• Retaining walls and slopes.
• Electrical and utility vulnerabilities.
• Entrances, exits and evacuation routes that could become inaccessible.

Consider taking dated photographs or video of priority facilities and infrastructure before major storms to document baseline conditions.

Before significant rainfall:

• Inspect and clear storm drains, gutters, roof drains, culverts and other drainage systems within the LEA's responsibility.
• Identify locations where sandbags or other flood-control measures may be needed.
• Secure outdoor equipment and materials.
• Confirm emergency supplies are available.
• Test generators and backup power systems, where available.
• Confirm generator fuel and refueling procedures.
• Verify backup communications capabilities.

Consider how essential services will continue if a campus becomes inaccessible or experiences an extended power, telecommunications, water or other utility outage. Priority functions may include:

• Student supervision and safety.
• Transportation.
• Food services.
• Special education and student support services.
• Information technology and communications.
• Facilities and maintenance.
• Business and administrative operations.

Identify roads, bridges, crossings and transportation routes that may be vulnerable to flooding, debris, or closures.

Transportation teams should identify alternate routes when feasible and establish procedures for rapidly communicating route changes or service interruptions to school sites, families and district leadership.