Are Emergency Preparedness Services Incorporated Into Your Child’s IEP or 504 Plan?
Being able to protect oneself is a critical life skill—and equitable access to safety and protection is a civil right—so why aren't emergency plans consistently incorporated into IEPs & 504 Plans?
In 2014, a landmark settlement made it clear that emergency preparedness plans that exclude students with disabilities are both unacceptable and illegal. Schools must take reasonable steps to ensure students with disabilities can be safely evacuated, sheltered, and assisted in emergencies just like any other student.
The settlement followed a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against the New Rochelle School District for violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). More specifically:
“[t]he District failed to provide two students with disabilities with “meaningful access” to the school’s emergency preparedness programs when it failed to evacuate them on January 31, 2013, during a school-wide evacuation, after the fire alarm was triggered as a result of a smoke condition in the electrical room of the New Rochelle High School. In addition, the investigation revealed that the District had failed to maintain evacuation plans for students with disabilities and failed to permit them to participate fully in evacuation drills. Title II of the ADA prohibits a public entity from, among other things, excluding individuals with disabilities from, or denying them the benefits of, its services, programs, or activities. To comply with Title II, a public entity must ensure that individuals with disabilities are afforded “meaningful access” to such services, benefits, and activities, including emergency preparedness programs.”
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara emphasized:
“We think of schools as safe havens for all students, and students with disabilities are no exception. The ADA requires that students with disabilities be given the opportunity to participate meaningfully in all programs put in place by their schools – a requirement that applies with particular force to an emergency preparedness program.”
This was not an isolated ruling. That same year, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York found New York City in violation of ADA. The Court concluded the city failed “to provide people with disabilities meaningful access to its emergency preparedness program in several ways.”
And yet, over a decade later, emergency plans aren’t being consistently discussed and incorporated into IEPs and 504 Plans.
What IDEA, Section 504, and State Laws Say
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees students a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). While IDEA does not explicitly mention emergency planning, 34 C.F.R. § 300.107 requires that:
“Each public agency must take steps, including the provision of supplementary aids and services determined appropriate and necessary by the child's IEP Team, to provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in the manner necessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportunity for participation in those services and activities.”
If students who don’t have disabilities are expected to participate in drills to prepare for emergencies, why wouldn’t students who have disabilities be given the same opportunity—even if it means using different methods and/or more time to practice?
In its publication “Integrating K–12 Students With Disabilities Into School Emergency Management Planning”, U.S. Department of Education’s Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center (REMS TA Center) affirms the inclusion of emergency preparedness in IEPs and 504 plans:
“Students with disabilities (SWDs) are entitled to the same emergency services as their nondisabled peers and should be considered and included during emergency management planning. This not only is a best practice and planning principle in the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (School Guide) but also is supported by multiple federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.” [emphasis added]
Some states have gone further by legislating the requirement. In 2024, Illinois passed a law mandating that if a student needs additional accommodations during emergencies, those must be included in their IEP.
In 2025, Virginia lawmakers sponsored legislation to ensure IEPs “contain a section addressing individualized accommodations and supports for the student”.
Examples of Accommodations and Services
Emergencies by nature are unlike the regular school day. That’s why it's critical to consider what a student may need during an emergency—even if those supports aren't necessary during regular instruction. There’s no way to predict every type of emergency to prepare for, but in today’s world schools continue to face weather-related emergencies, earthquakes, fires, active shooters, bomb threats, and other emergencies.
In the New Rochelle case, two students were left behind when smoke set off a fire alarm. What would have happened in the “Run, Hide, Fight” active-shooter guidance included in the FBI’s “Training for Civilians”?
What does a normal day look like? What is the worst-case scenario?
In the REMS TA Center document cited previously, the following advice is offered:
“Consider ways that the accommodations in a student’s IEP or 504 plan should be implemented during an emergency (e.g., how an assigned seating accommodation should be incorporated when planning a shelter-in-place policy) and also whether there are additional accommodations that might be unique to an emergency setting. A student may not need a buddy during regular school activities but might require one during an emergency evacuation.”
In addition, REMS TA Center provides the following examples:
“• Supervision during transitions; adult one-to-one assigned to student
• Simple instructions in multiple modalities that are practiced in nonemergency situations • A pre-identified quiet place for a student to self regulate
• Fidget items
• Access to sanitation/handwashing stations and hand sanitizer
• Self-calming strategies taught in advance
• A peer buddy system
• Access to emergency medications (e.g., an asthma inhaler) • Access to noise-canceling headphones”
This list is not exhaustive.
Does your student need a go-bag with medication, a comfort item, and/or back-up communication devices and batteries?
Are evacuation chairs available? Are staff trained to use them?
What if the student's teacher or aide is absent? What training will substitute teachers receive?
What of students who travel to programs between schools within the same school district? Who trains staff at both schools?
You know your child—and you’ve seen your child at his or her worst and best. What would the worst and best versions look like in an emergency?
Final Words
I didn’t intend to write this article today. It poured out after learning about a stabbing at a local school—and from long-held personal concerns about safety in schools.
At a school board meeting last year, a high school student argued against cell phone bans, saying students need phones to call parents during emergencies. But. . . There’s a paradox. When students are glued to their phones, they fail to perceive everything occurring around them. Worse, some who look up choose to record instead of to help or hide—or take any of a number more appropriate actions.
Less than an hour after the stabbing today, a video of the student lying in his blood started circulating. In the video, an adult stands over the body, yelling for an ambulance while students linger about.
It isn’t the school district’s responsibility to train all students to stop bleeding, to do CPR, to help save a life—to truly be prepared to help in an emergency—but I can’t stop wishing that rather than advocating for cell phone use, the high schooler at the school board meeting had advocated for a greater investment in pro-active school safety, emergency preparedness, and changing the culture of violence.
In the 1980s, I attended school in Germany, when bomb threats and terrorist attacks were a part of everyday life. I still remember walking out of class, locking eyes with the principal, and hearing him bark orders for us all to get out of there—and we all knew where to go for another bomb threat. In the early 2000’s, I visited a cousin teaching in New York City. Metal detectors had long-been installed at the front doors, no one entered without having their bags checked, and that was part of the daily routine. Teachers and students around the world have faced worse for decades.
I wish school was different for educators and students today, but we are where we are. Our kids (and educators and parents) need rehearsed, reinforced plans.
Here are a few of the resources I turned to today, which I encourage you to read, to learn more about what you and your school might discuss for your own student’s plan.
“Integrating K–12 Students With Disabilities Into School Emergency Management Planning” by REMS TA Center
“Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans” by U.S. Dept. of Education and other agencies
“Active Shooter Safety Resources” by FBI