If Public Relations Executives (PREs) in urban school districts learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that our capacity to adapt and innovate expands even more during a crisis. We also learned that it has never been more important for PREs and their teams to proactively prepare for life-threatening challenges. Such incidents include a pandemic, a bomb/explosion, an environmental disaster, life-threatening violence against a student or staff member, or a school shooting.

These possibilities, combined with a rise in mental health issues and greater availability of weapons, make it imperative for PREs to prepare for the unthinkable. 

This guidebook was created to help PREs proactively plan for, and be ready to manage, communications during any crisis that raises extreme anxiety over school safety, that threatens the lives of children and staff, and halts routine school operations. The document also includes specific communication examples from school districts that have experienced other types of crisis such as cyberattacks.