Crisis time. It’s not a question of IF, it’s a question of WHEN. – SCN Encourager

There’s not much positive you can say about a school crisis.

At best…

you can only pray that “everyone involved” got out of it safely afterward.

Because a school crisis situation kicks off high emotion, quickens the pace, and ignites varying levels of confusion, preparation for the inevitable crisis headed your way is critical.

After all, it’s the quality of your pre-crisis preparation that establishes the quality of your real-time crisis response.

Rick Kaufman is the executive director of community relations and emergency management for Bloomington Public Schools in Minnesota.

He was in-the-trenches as the school PR leader during the tragedy at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, CO back in 1999 and has both guided and comforted school officials, students, and families all across the U.S. during times of crisis ever since.

Rick is a frequent presenter at NSPRA and has literally written its book on school crisis response communications.

With a huge heart for the mission of public education and an uncanny ability to weave goodwill and humor into knowledgeable insights on a tough topic, Rick’s sessions are always jam-packed.

At NSPRA 2016 in Chicago Rick served up a crisis response recommendation that caught me by surprise.

I found it easy (AKA within budget), do-able (AKA within my skill set), and especially timely – given that we’re all about to  invite our students, parents, and staff back to a new school year.

So, thank you, Rick, for agreeing to make this brief 40 second video.

I know my simple “thank you” probably doesn’t seem like much right now, Rick, but more enthusiastic expressions of appreciation will soon come your way.

Trust me.

Readers of the Encourager are grateful to anyone who does something that causes me to write less!

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