Alaska school emergency plan law
What Alaska requires of school emergency operations plans, which its law calls crisis response plans: who writes one, what goes in it, and how often it's reviewed.
Every fact checked against the official source by an independent reviewer · Last verified October 26, 2026
Who must have a crisis response plan in Alaska?
Alaska law requires each school district to develop a model school crisis response plan for use by each school in the district. It also requires each school in a district to develop its own school-specific crisis response plan. Each school must form a crisis response team: the principal, one certified staff member, one classified (non-teaching) staff member and one parent of a student at the school. The team may also include a governing or advisory board member, a school counselor, a member of local law enforcement and one student in grade 10 or higher. This is allowed, not required. In the law, "crisis" includes a traumatic event or emergency condition that causes distress, hardship, fear or grief.
What must the plan contain?
A school-specific plan must meet standards that the law says the Department of Education and Early Development sets by regulation, and must include at least the items below.
| Required item | Source |
|---|---|
| The person in charge and a named substitute | AS 14.33.100(b)(1) |
| Crisis response team members by name, with their specific jobs in a crisis | AS 14.33.100(b)(2) |
| A communication plan | AS 14.33.100(b)(3) |
| Protocols for immediate physical harm and for traumatic events, including the period after they end | AS 14.33.100(b)(4) |
| Disaster and emergency procedures for earthquakes, fire, flood, explosions and other events likely to cause death or serious injury | AS 14.33.100(b)(5) |
| Procedures for safe entry to and exit from the school, including an evacuation and lockdown plan | AS 14.33.100(b)(6) |
| Policies for keeping discipline and a safe, orderly school during the crisis | AS 14.33.100(b)(7) |
That list does not name students with disabilities, reunification, threat assessment, floor plans or site maps, or cybersecurity.
How often must the plan be reviewed?
Each district must review and update each school's crisis response plan every year, as appropriate. Notice that the yearly review and update is done, and where each school's plan is kept, must be posted at each school in the district. The law does not say who posts it.
Is the plan submitted or shared?
The district must keep a copy of each school's yearly updated plan and give a copy to each local agency that has a role in the plan. The law sets no deadline for giving those copies; it ties them to the plan "as annually updated".
How do schools work with police and local agencies?
The district and each school must consult local social services agencies and local law enforcement when writing the plan.
What training is tied to the plan?
Each district must give each employee training in crisis response, including evacuation and lockdown drills. New district employees who have not had that training must receive it within two years of their first day, and after that on the schedule the district's governing body adopts. State standards for school paraprofessionals (aides) require them to show they can understand and carry out district and state safety guidelines, including the district's crisis response plan.
Is the plan public?
A school crisis response plan must be printed and available for public inspection.
What guidance does the state publish?
The Department of Education and Early Development's school safety page lists AS 14.33.100 as an Alaska school safety law. The department publishes a 2018 Alaska School Emergency Operations Plan Guidebook as guidance.
What changed recently?
The law that created AS 14.33.100 (Chapter 78, Session Laws of Alaska 1999) took effect September 22, 1999. SB 3 (34th Legislature) would require each district, by July 1 each year, to give local and state law enforcement certain materials, including its active shooter plan for each school building. Under SB 3, floor plans would have to show locked and unlocked entrances, accessible windows and safe huddle areas. SB 3 would also change AS 14.33.100(c) so that some parts of a crisis response plan, including floor plans and locked and unlocked entrances, could not be made public. As of October 27, 2026, SB 3 has not moved since January 22, 2025: it sits in the Senate Education Committee, with Judiciary next. It is not law.
How can QuickSecure help?
SOPs keeps your emergency operations plan and procedures in one place, and staff can open them from their phones.
Each procedure keeps its version history, so you can see what changed and when.
You choose which roles can see each procedure, and staff confirm they've read it, so you can see who has.
During an Alert, your procedures become step-by-step checklists for each staff member.
This is not a statement that any product satisfies Alaska's requirements; that reading belongs to your district and its counsel.