Disseminating crucial information to all Department of Education divisions is an essential function of Homeland Security. In the post-Columbine era, the need for all schools, colleges and universities to be quickly and accurately informed about any safety and security threat can be efficiently and effectively met by Microsoft and its solution partners. The U.S. Department of Education offers the Emergency Response and Crisis Management Grant Program, designed to provide funds to local education agencies to strengthen and improve emergency response and crisis plans, at the district and school-building level. The grant program requires grantees to form partnerships and collaborate with the community organizations, local law enforcement agencies, heads of local governments, and offices of public safety, health, and mental health as they review and revise school crisis plans. Plans also must be coordinated with state or local homeland security plans and support implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). K-12 Emergency Response Alert and Notification System solutionWhen disaster strikes, effective communication is essential to coordinate first responders, avoid panic, and quickly bring the situation under control. The Emergency Response Alert and Notification System provides a centralized on-premise notification system that fulfils a variety of uses—for both emergency and standard school communications. This solution makes it easy for government agencies, schools, and healthcare facilities to stay connected, giving people access to the information they need to make quick decisions in times of crisis. School of the FutureThe School District of Philadelphia and Microsoft worked together on an ambitious and purposeful task: To build a School of the Future. Learn more about the people who turned this idea into a reality and how the School of the Future will address the needs of students of the new millennium. | |
