What Is a Crisis?
A crisis is a critical or unstable situation in which a significant change is imminent, often carrying the potential for unpredictable and highly undesirable outcomes.
Crises can vary widely in scope and severity. In the context of schools, a crisis may arise when leaders are faced with limited information, time, or resources, yet must make one or more crucial decisions. Crises can:
- Affect a single student or extend to the entire school community.
- Occur on or off campus, and at any time—before, during, or after school hours.
Crisis management is a key element of comprehensive school safety. The top priority is the health, safety, and well-being of students and staff. Effective crisis management emphasizes prevention through measures such as building design, discipline policies, and programs that foster a positive school climate.
More specifically, crisis management refers to a school division’s targeted, time-sensitive efforts to identify, address, and resolve a crisis, restore stability, and support appropriate adaptive responses.