It’s not always easy to see ways that your school’s operations might put you at risk. But managing risk effectively isn’t as hard as you may think.
The Business Office can manage risk by identifying exposures from past experiences or the experiences of others, seeing patterns, and considering new trends. Next, identify ways you can prevent these risks from occurring now, or options you’ll have to mitigate if they occur in the future.
To help you get started, the following questions represent some of the areas where schools have historically faced risk. If your answer is “no” to any of them, you may want to take a second look at that specific area of your policy.
- Does your school have a written and communicated emergency response or crisis plan addressing prevention, response, and recovery?
- Have you tested the seven emergency drills in different scenarios?
- Have you created a plan of action with local first responders if a school emergency occurs that requires their assistance?
- Do you have a crisis communication plan?
- Are all coaches, faculty, and staff trained in basic life support, first aid, CPR, and use of AED?
- Are education and training on the topics of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct offered to and required of all adult community members each year? Are specific reporting and investigation protocols in place should an incident occur?
- Do protocols for safe trips and travel exist?
- Does your school have written agreements or contracts with its vendors?
- Does the school have a contract attorney review all contracts, leases, and agreements?
- Does your school have an employment attorney ensure you have a legal and consistently administered process when:
- recruiting, interviewing, and hiring?
- conducting annual evaluations?
- in progressive discipline mode?
- terminating employees?
- Is background screening carried out on all employees, volunteers, and vendors who will be on campus? Do you refer to both state and national registries?
- Do you have an employee handbook that is followed and reviewed periodically by a labor attorney?
- Does your school have at least a $1 million limit on its Directors and Officers (D&O) policy?
- Does your D&O policy cover employment practices and educational practices?
- Do you have protocols for the collection, storing, use, and destruction of confidential data?
- Do you have a robust cyber insurance policy?
- As a part of your acceptable use policy, have you trained students on safe use of social media?
These questions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to managing your school’s risk. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive review of your school’s practices, our team would be happy to identify potential challenges and liabilities through our Risk Management Assessment.
Email Helen Foster, Consulting Manager, or call 302-656-4944 (ext. 134) to learn more.
Additional ISM Resources:
The Source for Business and Operations Vol. 3 No. 1 Building a Risk Management Team (RMT)
The Source for Business and Operations Vol. 15 No. 5 Reducing Risk When Hiring Vendors and Contractors
Additional ISM resources for Gold members:
I&P Vol. 41 No. 4 Risk Management Assessment: Reduce Your School’s Exposure
I&P Vol. 41 No. 5 The Risk Management Assessment Process
