/ Modified dec 10, 2024 4:12 p.m.

Auditor General says Arizona schools fail to meet emergency preparedness standards

The Arizona Auditor General says that school emergency operations plans throughout the state don’t meet minimum standards and that schools have not fully implemented and tested the plans they do have.

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Mariana Dale, AZPM

A sample review of school districts’ and charter schools’ emergency plans found most of them met fewer than half the minimum standards and some charter schools didn’t have a plan at all.

An Auditor General report also said that most of the schools did not provide emergency procedures training to all staff or conduct required safety drills.

The report said that schools needed more guidance on the standards for emergency plans, that there should be a better monitoring process, and that the role of law enforcement in the plan should be clarified.

The Arizona Department of Education, which oversees the state’s public school districts, agreed to implement all the recommendations. But the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools said it doesn’t have the resources or expertise to monitor and enforce compliance and suggested the state should handle it.

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