Put Safety First

The paramount concern in any crisis is safety. Follow your school’s policies for locking down the site or site evacuation, if needed; call school security officers or outside law enforcement, if appropriate; alert parents and caregivers, if warranted; and make sure everyone on campus is safe and accounted for. Attend to any injuries. Follow your school’s emergency protocols. That, always, is an administrator’s first order of business.

If you have not already formed an incident response team, do so now. Ideally, members of an incident response team need to project a sense of calm as well as earnest concern.

Restoring order is a key step to reestablishing any sense of safety.

Isolate alleged offenders as quickly as possible. Direct uninvolved students back to classrooms, and have teachers keep them there until further notice. If necessary for safety, hold bells and provide instructions to teachers by intercom, phone or written messages. Students, faculty and staff should be assured that the matter is being dealt with and that more information about the incident will be provided as soon as possible.

Rumors already will be flying. Take them seriously. According to both the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education, in most cases of school violence someone other than the attacker knew of the threat but failed to report it. Emphasize that any such information should be communicated immediately, and identify the person or persons to whom information should be reported. Publicize access to an anonymous tip line, an online report form or an in-school tip box. Provide avenues for people to share information, and assign people to review and report on that information as it comes in.

Also, especially with more serious incidents, be on high alert regarding the potential for copycats or retaliatory actions. With many incidents—bias-driven fights or attacks, vandalism and graffiti—there is a real risk of repeated incidents by vengeful classmates or copycats. Faculty and staff should be more aware than usual, watching for signs of tension, veiled or implied threats and unusual activity. Let all students know that the campus is on heightened alert.

Denounce the Act

When a hate crime or bias incident has affected the school, it is important to denounce the hateful act in clear, unambiguous terms. Silence or a lack of response allows fear, confusion, misinformation and distrust to grow.

If someone spray paints swastikas on the school’s main entrance, for example, or hangs a noose outside an African-American teacher’s classroom window, it is not the time to say, “We regret if anyone took offense.” The swastikas and the noose are  offensive, and school leaders need to say so.

Your denunciation of the incident should be delivered to students and staff, parents and caregivers, and the wider community. Post it on the school website, and publish it in the school newspaper or newsletter. Send it out to the media. Deliver it over the school’s PA system, closed-circuit TV or intercom.

Keep it simple. Focus on three main points:

• An unacceptable incident has occurred (be specific in your description of it, otherwise gossip and

rumor will allow mistaken information to take root).

• A full investigation is under way.

• Our school stands for respect and inclusion, a place where all are welcome and appreciated.

An example:

“Someone or some group has painted swastikas, a long-standing symbol of the worst kind of hate, on the front entrance of our school. It is deplorable, and we denounce it. A full investigation is under way. We are working quickly to cover and remove this vicious symbol of oppression and genocide. Hate has no place at this school. We, as a school community, stand for respect and inclusion, a place where all are free to learn in a safe and welcoming environment.”

In crafting a response, however, some issues need to be considered.

Is this an act that appears to be perpetrated by an outsider? If so, the whole school has been attacked, and your words must reflect that, as in the example above. But what if it is an act carried out by members of the school community, something that may have or already has divided students? If so, you must approach the statement with that in mind.

“Hateful graffiti has been found in three of our school’s bathrooms. We believe the person or group responsible may be part of our own school community. The images used are deplorable, and we denounce them. An investigation is under way, and we are working quickly to remove these swastikas, vicious symbols of oppression and genocide. Hate has no place in this school. We will use this as an opportunity to remind ourselves why we are here. This is an opportunity for education, a time to remind ourselves that we, as a school community, stand for respect and inclusion. We must be a place where all are free to learn in a safe and welcoming environment. That is the work that lies before us.”

Remember that your primary aim should be to restore the school to health, not to punish perpetrators. Your focus should be on what the school stands for, that hate has no place here. Focus on the positive steps the school community will take to restore order and renew its commitment to provide a safe and welcoming environment where all students can learn. Also mention the need for healing within the school community, as well as support for any identity groups specifically targeted by the incident.

And the message needs to come from you, the top administrator, as a signal to students and others that the matter is under control and being dealt with at the highest level. This is not a time to delegate.

Issue the statement as soon as possible. After immediate safety and investigative needs have been addressed, prepare a simple response statement denouncing the hateful act and reiterating the school’s commitment to a respectful, safe learning environment for all students.

Include voices of allies in the statement. These allies should come from the list of influential community members that school leaders can call upon. These community leaders or organizations can present a powerful, united front. And involving them will also show that school leaders are reaching out beyond the school grounds as they manage the response.

Promise (and deliver) updates. Make it clear that more complete information will be shared as facts and details become known.

Investigate

As an administrator, it is your responsibility to remain calm, firm and deliberate as you gather the facts surrounding a potential bias-based incident. Don’t let others’ passions distract you from this task, and don’t let the rushed feeling of a crisis force you into making hasty judgments. Empower the incident response team to carry out a thorough investigation, and provide resources to support it.

Take note: While it is necessary to be alert to bias or bigotry in any student conflict, it is also important not to jump to conclusions before facts are gathered. Not every conflict involving students of different races is motivated by racial bias, for example. A premature conclusion could fuel racial tension rather than ease it.

Also, maintain perspective. Particularly among younger students, someone may make bigoted comments or carry out other apparent acts of bias without understanding the full significance of his or her actions. Approach each incident with an open mind, and ask questions to determine whether a student was acting out of ignorance rather than malice. That understanding will help you frame your response to the incident.

Understand that hoaxes sometimes happen. Individuals may fabricate reports of bias incidents. This kind of deception can reflect a variety of motivations, including malicious mischief, a desire to call attention to oneself or, ironically, a wish to bring attention to an issue such as the need for a stronger school policy on harassment. When genuine bias incidents go unaddressed, a student may exaggerate or make up false incidents—writing hate notes to oneself, for example—to prompt a response from school officials. These offenses need to be taken seriously, and appropriate consequences should be enforced, but a fabricated incident may also indicate that related issues have not been fully examined within the school.

Here are additional considerations:

• Be up-to-date on district policies and legal protocols and discuss them with district legal counsel and law enforcement officials, if the latter are involved.

• Let the campus know that you (or the police, if that is the case) are in a fact-gathering mode. If you are silent at this point, some may assume you are doing nothing to address the incident.

• Give a sense of expected duration of the fact-gathering phase. “For the next two days, we will be gathering facts about this incident. I will share specific news as it becomes available. In the meantime, please come to me, or to any member of the staff, with information or concerns you may have.”

• Conduct individual interviews with eyewitnesses as soon as possible to collect fresh recollections, emphasizing that the main goal is the protection of the school community. Hold these interviews in a secure place that doesn’t put eyewitnesses at additional risk. Ask witnesses to help identify others who may have information.

• Understand that eyewitness accounts will vary, and not all witnesses will feel safe in coming forward. Talk to as many people as possible in order to better understand what happened.

• If the incident was caught on school security cameras, review the video to see if it helps to clarify what happened or assists in identifying potential witnesses.

• Investigate the incident with an eye toward whether it is part of a larger pattern. Does a hostile environment exist for some students? Ask members of targeted groups if they are surprised by this incident and whether similar incidents have happened. Ask whether the school leaders’ response is satisfactory, and listen with an open mind if people say it isn’t satisfactory.

• Create a way for witnesses to remain anonymous. People may feel too frightened to identify themselves but may have vital information. 

When police are involved, there may be additional concerns regarding the investigation. If individual safety is a factor, for example, then having a visible show of police support might be a calming influence. If, on the other hand, there is a large police response to what is perceived as a relatively minor incident, it could exacerbate tension rather than ease it.

And do not expect police to manage the campus climate. Police investigators are looking to solve a crime. As a campus administrator, one of your key objectives is to repair and improve school climate in the wake of a bias-based crisis; do not neglect that role as you await completion of a police investigation.

Involve Others

This should not be a starting-from-scratch moment; you should have existing relationships with parents and caregivers, community organizations and civic leaders to whom you can reach out during a crisis. It is, however, a moment to expand those connections and relationships. Maybe you don’t have a strong connection to a neighborhood adjoining the school campus, for example. Now is the time to strengthen it.

Small incidents that have not drawn widespread attention may be solved through much simpler processes. (Don’t, however, neglect considering whether a small incident is part of a larger pattern of hostility at your school.) For mid-level and larger incidents, take into account the following:

There are two overarching groups to consider:

DIRECT TIES TO THE SCHOOL

• Faculty and staff

• Students

• Parents and caregivers

• School district officials

• Alumni

• Who else?

INDIRECT TIES TO THE SCHOOL

• Government entities (a powerful one is the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service [3])

• Human rights groups

• Nonprofits and civic groups

• Faith groups

• Mental health counselors

• Elected officials

• Who else?

Ask yourself: At what level do we need to keep them informed, and how will we accomplish that? Those with direct ties to the school likely need daily (or more frequent in the early days) updates; use existing channels of communication to accomplish this, and consider (based on the level of impact the incident has had) emergency meetings, including an all-staff meeting before the start of the following school day.

To those with indirect ties, you may reach out in other ways, asking for specific help, a meeting space, vocal support and so on. If it’s a particularly high-profile moment, it may be that you are coordinating with the mayor to join you at the initial press conference, for example. And if you don’t have a strong list of community resources, start developing it now. Are there human rights groups at the local, state or national level who might have ready resources and guidance?

A crucial component in the aftermath of a bias crisis is counseling for students, faculty and staff. Some members of the school community may need more time and help to process what has happened. Others may want to talk about fears related to acute or chronic bias issues. Consider offering facilitated sessions where students and school employees can talk about their experiences and feelings. Ask school counselors to update a list or database of current resources and referral information. Seek district and community resources to support these efforts.

Also ask: How can we seek input?

It’s vital for you to keep people informed, and it’s also important for you to set up channels for listening. People need to be heard in crisis moments, and if you don’t give them a platform for that, frustration and distrust will rise.

Set up avenues for written and verbal feedback—perhaps a special email (crisisteam@domain ) or phone line, as well as meetings where people are allowed to speak, ask questions, offer thoughts and guidance. Publicize meetings well so all who are interested might attend. Work with the PTA, which may have additional resources for engaging parents.

For high-profile incidents, a community meeting a few nights after the incident—say on the third or fourth night—often can be an effective tool.

Offer a written summary of the gathering, and make it available to those who are unable to attend, via email, the school website and local media. Reiterate how this incident has violated school values, outline steps being taken in response, and provide avenues for community involvement. (This written communication can be shared first at the staff and faculty emergency meeting, where you can solicit feedback for editing and improvement.)

Work with the Media

Minor incidents may fly under the media radar. Any incident that spills off school grounds or draws more widespread attention also likely will draw media attention. So at any moment in a crisis, the next call may be from a reporter wanting information and a comment.

Cooperate with the media, as much as possible. Clearly, if a media outlet is mishandling the story or breaking school policy or rules about access to the campus, corrective action should be taken. In general, though, it is best to work with the media, and present facts as you see them rather than being at odds with them.

Your school or district may have a public information officer or media relations specialist. If so, that person should be involved from the very outset, to be prepared for early media calls.

That person—or someone else with previous experience working with media or public relations—should be designated to handle all media inquiries. It’s imperative that this person be kept up to date on all aspects of the situation, through regular meetings and communications.

Give everyone on staff this person’s contact information, and instruct everyone to deliver a clear message: “All media inquiries are being handled by [X]. Here is that contact information …”

A single hub is vital to avoid miscommunication and the spread of conflicting messages or misinformation. If four people are answering media questions in four different ways, you will end up sending mixed and misleading messages.

Resist the urge to deliver a flat “no comment.” The lack of information makes the media more apt to look to others to answer their questions and also may be seen by some as a lack of action on your part—that you are ignoring the incident, trying to sweep it under the rug, not taking it seriously, hoping it just might go away. Because of that, a “no comment” response may damage your efforts to rebuild community. What’s a good alternative, when you have little or nothing to say? Frame the response as a values statement: “We’re very concerned. We don’t yet have all the facts. We’ll be ready to make a comment when we do.”

So be prepared to work with the media, and see it as an opportunity for you to widen the denunciation of the incident and to frame the message you want to be out there.

Smaller incidents may involve only a few calls from the local media. For larger incidents, it likely will involve the organization of a press conference for local, regional and sometimes national media. This press conference should happen within a few days of the incident—probably not on the same day, but perhaps on the afternoon of the next day or on the morning of the third day. The top school administrator should be the main speaker; again, this is not a time to delegate.

In most cases, it is a bad idea to stiff-arm the media at this event with “no comments” and hostile attitudes. Efforts to do so almost always backfire. You want to work with reporters and readily share as much information as is safely possible. This can help ease the crisis. On the other hand, it is not necessary to answer every—or even most—reporters’ questions, especially in the early stages of a crisis when you are still figuring out what happened and how to deal with it. Your number-one priority is the safety of students, parents and staff.

So what to say at the press conference? First of all, keep it simple. Use short, direct sentences. Provide enough details to explain what happened, but don’t slip into conjecture or guesswork about motives or other aspects of the incident. Repeat your main points often. Have a simple, nondefensive response ready for questions you do not wish to answer. “That’s not something I can comment on.” Or, “We haven’t determined that yet.”

Here’s a road map for your press conference message. This same road map can be helpful in developing talking points for teachers who will be speaking to students and their families and caregivers:

• State what has happened.

• Denounce the hateful incident.

• Indicate where you are in the investigation (early, partway through, nearly done).

• State what steps the school is taking in its response to the incident (setting up counseling teams for students and staff, creating an incident response team to investigate the incident).

• Describe supports that already exist in the school (an antiharassment policy, core values, pledges of tolerance signed by staff and students, etc.).

• Indicate that clearly there is need for more work to be done.

• Remind people that you are an educational institution, well-positioned to raise awareness and increase understanding around the issues raised by the hateful incident.

• State that discipline will be handled in a manner appropriate to the offense, based on school policy and local laws.

• Focus on positive steps you plan to take rather than on punitive measures against perpetrators.

And here are some tips on holding a press conference:

• Choose a room on the perimeter of the school, preferably with its own entrance. Otherwise, you’ll be allowing people with cameras and recording devices to walk down your hallways, potentially capturing unapproved images. (You also can partner with a nearby community organization and hold the press conference off campus.)

• Hold the press conference in a room from which you can exit easily when the conference ends, and have a couple of people remain behind to escort media from the room. You should be in a position to calmly call an end to the press conference and leave.

• Set the press conference after school has been dismissed and students have left the building or before the school day starts prior to students’ arrival. This will minimize media seeking student and parent comments as they leave school.

• Give reporters copies of all statements you make, including any messages denouncing the incident that have been posted on websites, given to students or sent home to families and caregivers.

• Don’t announce anything dramatic to the media if faculty, students, families and caregivers have not been informed first. It raises tension and distrust when direct constituents hear or read surprising news in the media.

• Speak in short, direct sentences when answering questions. Longer sentences can end up being edited badly for TV, radio and print media.

• Answer the question being asked. Don’t wander onto unrelated topics.

• Be prepared to answer the same question multiple times without becoming irritated or defensive. Reporters often ask the same question in different ways to elicit deeper responses. Simply repeat your main message as often as necessary, in a calm, professional tone. Don’t sound exasperated at having to repeat something; that’s not the tone or image you want to see on the evening news.

• Have a ready response to questions you do not wish to answer, such as “That’s not something I can address.” Then ask, “Next question?”

• When the questioning has run out of steam, or you need to return to deal directly with the crisis, offer a polite, “Thank you,” and exit.

Unless there is a dramatic turn of events following the initial incident, one press conference may be enough. After that, send out press statements as key actions occur. If community healing events—a candlelight vigil or a rally for inclusion—are planned, alert the press in advance. Coverage of the positive aftermath of a bias incident illustrates the steps being taken to improve school climate.

Provide Accurate Information— and Dispel Misinformation

This is less about a step in the crisis-recovery process and more about your overall management of the response to an incident.

Misinformation often runs rampant in the aftermath of a bias-based incident at school. A fight involving two people becomes a melee involving a dozen or more. Stories of possible retaliation are whispered in hallways. Tales of “what really happened” allow for exaggeration, ratcheting up fears. In a crisis, you are tasked not just with managing information, but also with managing misinformation.

You cannot monitor everything, but you can designate a person or a small group to keep eyes and ears on various information sources, bringing misinformation to the attention of the incident response team in a coordinated, ongoing way. 

Read comments on news websites. Browse Facebook and other social media sites. Follow Twitter. Spend time in the cafeteria and the hallways, listening to what is being said.

Create a fact sheet about the incident, and keep it updated—specifically correcting misinformation. Don’t let misinformation take root in the school or community; once that happens, it becomes much more difficult to correct.

Use each new communication—statements, emails, public address announcements, comments at meetings and school gatherings—to correct misinformation and reiterate facts, always coming back to the values message that there is no place for hate in this school.

And be careful as you gather your own information. Don’t jump to conclusions. If you are hasty, you may spread misinformation yourself and then appear to be backtracking or sidestepping something when you try to correct your own misinformation. It’s OK to say, “We don’t know that yet.”

And what if the incident turns out to be a hoax or fabrication? It happens, and it calls for a constructive response as well. In the case of a hoax, address the negative impact of the act anyway, even as you denounce the deception. Clear up any rumors and point out the damaging effects these deceptions have on confidence and trust. “Crying wolf”—lying about a threat—damages the peace and safety of the entire school community. And remember, just because someone has cried wolf does not mean a problem does not exist; continue to look into the issue to see if a pattern of hostility exists.

Seek Justice, Avoid Blame

When an offender or group of offenders is identified, there is a desire among some people to focus solely on discipline and punishment. Appropriate action should be taken against any offender. If a crime has occurred, that likely will be in the hands of law enforcement and courts. If a crime has not occurred, let school policy be your guide.

Violent offenses, of course, require stern, nonnegotiable consequences, including separation from the school through suspension or expulsion. Inform the offender and his or her adult family members about community counseling services that may be helpful. If a student’s bullying or abusive behavior is chronic, push for a psychological evaluation that may reveal mental, emotional or behavioral issues that need attention.

Whether the incident was violent or nonviolent, one of your most important tasks as an administrator is to focus on restoration and not merely punishment. Bias-based incidents are ripe occasions for education. Fear and ignorance often are at least partially to blame for this type of incident. This crisis is an opportunity to teach about culture and race, to help guide students to a deeper understanding that our diversity is a powerful force for good, binding us by our common humanity.

Here are three key issues to consider:

The power of policy.  Understandably, victims and their families may judge some disciplinary measures to be ineffective or too lenient. This is less likely to happen if schools have addressed harassment and bias-motivated incidents in their policies, particularly policies that have been well-publicized and reviewed by the school and the community at large. Be open to the need for change; use this incident as an opportunity to review and improve policy.

Fair enforcement.  When incidents do occur, it is crucial that schools enforce the consequences fairly and without regard to the offender’s status. If some offenders seem to be treated more leniently than others, the victims and the school community will have little sense of justice and closure. Offenders also will be less likely to change their behavior and victims may feel more vulnerable and be less likely to report future abuses. This dynamic can contribute to a divisive and unsafe school environment.

A community approach.  Alliances with parents and caregivers, community or service organizations and advocacy groups can help school officials develop more creative consequences that will require offenders to face the destructive nature of what they did and perhaps even help them take steps to repair the damage they have done. Dialogue groups and peer mediation programs are particularly helpful for incidents involving large groups of students. Some communities also have restorative-justice programs in place, which can help. Los Angeles County, for example, created JOLT (Juvenile Offenders Learning Tolerance), a program aimed to provide education and awareness to first-time hate crime offenders.

Support Targeted Students

It is vital to support specific victims of a bias incident or hate crime at school, as well as show support for the targeted community. To create this support, you must provide for physical safety, denounce the act in unequivocal terms and follow through on appropriate consequences for perpetrators.

Victims of hateful acts often feel vulnerable, alone and angry. Even when the attack is impersonal—graffiti on a wall, for example—victims often feel personally violated and individually targeted.

A victim’s wishes regarding privacy should be respected. If the victim is a teacher, then a close colleague or department head should check in with that individual to discuss privacy issues. In the case of a student, have a designated safe contact person ask the student about her wishes regarding privacy. If a victim voices a desire to go public, initiate a conversation about the risks of doing so (media scrutiny, nasty comments in online settings, an inability to go back to anonymity) to make sure she is making an informed decision. Balance the risk of going public against the reasons for doing so. For many victims, there is a real sense of power in speaking up and out. For others, going public would make a terrible situation even worse.

Here are five other considerations:

Don’t put victims on the spot.  Don’t ask victims to speak in class or issue statements to the media or answer for their entire identity group in response to the incident. This may reinjure victims and make them feel like a target all over again. Also be sensitiveto the position of minority faculty and staff. As with students in the classroom, never single out members of a particular identity group for their response to bias incidents or other matters of diversity. (“Joe, you’re African-American. What do you think of this?”) At the same time, welcome their input when it is offered.

Don’t take offense.  Victims, parents and caregivers may lash out at the school community for not doing enough to protect them or their children; this is a very natural reaction. Acknowledge their feelings and discuss ways that the school plans to prevent future incidents. Also inform victims and parents about victim advocacy and services, counseling and other supportive resources at the school and in the community.

Denounce efforts that may reinjure the victim.  Avoid any suggestion that the victim somehow “brought on” the attack by his or her appearance or behavior. For example, every year, shameful reports surface about administrators telling LGBT victims they would not be harassed or attacked if they just refrained from being “out.” Also, if a victim of harassment retaliates against a bully or harasser, do not allow the original provocation to go unaddressed when considering consequences in the wake of the second incident. 

Apologize on behalf of the school community.  In private or during an incident-related conference, express how sorry you and the school are for what happened. Social and psychological research has shown that sincere apologies have great power in healing ruptures in trust and security within organizations, communities and professional relationships. Explain that the school will do everything possible to identify offenders and see that they face appropriate consequences.

Be sensitive to privacy concerns in anti-LGBT incidents.  If a bias incident targets a LGBT student or teacher, or perceived LGBT student or teacher, avoid making an issue of the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Focus on the incident, safety and prevention of future incidents. Be very careful not to “out” students or teachers who have not shared their sexual orientation publicly.

Promote Healing

A hateful act has rocked the school, and the crisis-response effort continues to move forward. It’s easy to get so focused on specific tasks—investigating the incident, handling the press conference, addressing the victims’ needs—that the bigger picture is lost.

Your community has been wounded. That wound might have come from a source outside the school, such as vandals spraying hateful graffiti on school walls. Or it may have come from inside the school, identifying a deep division among students. Either way, opportunities for healing need to be part of your crisis response.

As the crisis winds down—sooner rather than later—it is helpful to find a way to gather together and share messages of healing and unity. This becomes an initial step into the postcrisis phase, a bridge between crisis management and longer term strategic planning around improving school climate.

One option is to plan a schoolwide or community-wide show of unity. Orchestrating a demonstration of school unity after a hate crime or high-profile bias incident can be a way to begin repairing the sense of community within a school. Distributing ribbons or wearing certain colors can become symbols of determination to recover from the incident and show unity in opposing hate and prejudice at school. Involve the neighborhood and wider community, as appropriate. This type of gathering can have a galvanizing effect, especially if it includes a pledge to work together to address issues raised by the incident.

Consider creating posters or buttons, promoting school values. “Our school stands for…” Paint that slogan on a banner along the hallway, and invite students to add their thoughts. Inclusion. Fairness. Kindness.

A march around the school. A candlelight vigil. A mural painted on the wall that had held the hateful graffiti. Do not frame this as the end of your efforts, but rather as a beginning of further work toward improving school climate and culture.

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A Tool for Your Toolbox

Teaching Tolerance has created a nationwide program that can help kick-start this kind of change. Mix It Up at Lunch [4] promotes inclusion and bridge building within schools.