Facilities

A pleasant, attractive environment encourages students to respect and appreciate their surroundings and will foster the desire to learn. An orderly, clean environment should extend beyond the classroom and continue throughout the entire physical plant, both inside and outside.

Providing and maintaining an appealing facility requires significant effort. If the principal or teacher personally assumes all the work in this area, they are on the fast track to burnout. It is the board's responsibility to provide custodial and maintenance services for the building by hiring personnel or securing dependable volunteers to care for the plant and grounds on a year-round basis. The teacher and students may share this responsibility by respecting the school and personal property.

Local and state or provincial regulations must be consulted for health, fire, and safety code requirements. Routine inspections by local officials are necessary. Compliance with standards outlined by these authorities is mandatory.

Contact your local health and fire inspectors for a complete list of requirements. Regulations vary according to state/provincial and local codes.

Risk Management has an excellent School Safety Inspection form that is downloadable here.

Emergency Closings
There will be times when you must close your school unexpectedly. The reasons for closing school vary but are most often related to one of the following: extreme weather, utility failure, building safety concerns, vandalism, and student illness (pandemic).

It is important that you are prepared for situations when conditions make it necessary for you to close school. In these situations:

• Develop a plan with the school board for emergency school closings. This may include necessary steps to take if a substitute teacher cannot be secured in certain situations.
• Develop an action plan to quickly communicate with each school family. It is important to educate families in the details of the plan.
• Consider conducting school remotely if it makes sense in your situation. Check with the superintendent about state/provincial government regulations pertaining to remote schooling.