Sheila Weiss was ready for the President George W. Bush's visit to Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla. As the district's public information officer, she had taken care of the "typical things",she had prepared a media kit and a list of possible questions President Bush could be asked; she had hand-picked group of students, parents, and teachers to be on the scene. Everything was going so well, Weiss recalls. "We were waiting for the President to address the nation about his administration's reading program... and then the first plane struck."

On September 11, 2001, Weiss was reminded of an old adage that could be considered Rule #1 for anyone responsible for communicating with the public: expect the unexpected. Accordingly, all communications professionals "including school leaders," must plan for every contingency.

Such planning is made easier when school leaders understand that there are three stages of a crisis that have specific action steps, say Weiss and David Voss, who shared their communications expertise in an S2H Webinar, appropriately titled News (in a Flash).

Stage 1:Before the Crisis

This is, of course, a critical stage. Voss and Weiss recommend that school leaders:

• Create a communication plan. Such a plan should designate a media briefing area; determine who the communications chair and spokesperson will be (they may be different people); establish a communications chain; have an emergency Web page ready for posting on the school and district Web sites.
• Establish relationships with local media, police, medical personnel, and so on.
• Know the laws that govern what school leaders can say about children and school staff.
• Get training in crisis communications and media relations.

Voss notes that it's extremely important for school leaders to practice implementing the communications plan. "You can't grab a three-ring binder off the shelf in the midst of a crisis," he says. "You have to know what to do." And that, he asserts, takes role-playing and rehearsal.

Stage 2:During the Crisis

As Weiss discovered, the best plans must sometimes be amended, on the spot. Still, in the midst of a crisis, she says, the most important thing school leaders must do is to get the media under control. "If necessary, get the police involved," she advises. Once limits are set, the second most important thing is to know the script and stick to it. Additionally:

• Gather information about the incident and immediately communicate what you know.
• Be available and provide frequent updates.
• Anticipate questions.
• Use social networking technologies, such as blogs, to help in the communication effort.

Also, remember to frequently update your in-bound and out-bound telephone messages. With out-bound calling systems, says Weiss, "we can beat the media in getting the news to parents."

Stage 3:After the Crisis

School leaders may neglect this important phase of a crisis, but actions taken after an event can help everyone prepare for the next one. School leaders can:

• Schedule a post-crisis press conference and invite the school board members to speak.
• Publicly assume responsibility when appropriate, but be cautious in placing blame.
• Explain corrective action the school will take.

Once the crisis is over, it&'s also a good time for all stakeholders to review the communications plan. What worked? What didn't? What could be improved upon? And that, naturally, brings us back to Stage 1.

"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Voss says. "Be ever-prepared to say the right thing at the right time to the right people."

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