Benchmark: Adverse Situation

Danielle Eastman

Grand Canyon University: Strategic Leadership and Management in the Principalship

November 30, 2022

 Management and Operational Systems

As the principal of Sunset Hills, I must take multiple aspects into consideration during

this adverse situation. It is mid-May with a staggering 98 degrees at noon and the central air

conditioning units are down in the building. I must look into the weather prediction for how

warm it will continue to rise until school end at 3:45. It’s also important to work with

maintenance to see if this is a minor fix that can be done to keep students at school or if this is

a major fix that could take days. It’s important to consider shutting down the school for the

remainder of the day because of the threat of students and staff getting heat stroke. Additional

information needed to make my decision is the possibility to moving to a different location that

can house 800 students until we are able to figure out transportation and communicating with

parents.

Human, Fiscal, and Technological Resources

Staff need to be informed about the possibility of a school shutdown and must be kept

in the loop especially if it’s a strong possibility of early closure. Students will have access to

the water fountain, and if possible, to give students cups to stay hydrated. Staff will be

expected to keep students as calm as possible and to keep them indoors with no physical

activity. If there are areas in the school that are warmer, I would have them move to a different

location. School nurse will be called in as protocol to support any student who could fall into a

heat stroke. Once the call if official, parents will be notified next. I would start by notifying the

youngest groups of students and allowing for parents to come pick up their children even if

their siblings are older. As all parents are being contacted, it will continue to go up in age.
Normal transportation will be offered for all students. Once all parents were contacted, I

would use our school’s announcement resource and send one out.

Safety and Welfare of Students and Staff

Legal rulings that need to be considered when looking into student and staff safety is if they

are being negatively impacted or if their health is put into jeopardy. “Heat disorders strike when

people spend too much time in the heat or overexert themselves. Older adults, young children,

and people who are sick, overweight or have an underlying health condition are more susceptible

to heat-related illness” (Arizona Emergency Information Network). It’s important not only to

consider young children, but to think about my staff. If I have an older staff group, they may be

at higher risk of putting their health into danger. Knowing how much heat can affect a

stakeholder’s health, administration or the district can be sued because we are under the

knowledge of the air conditioner being out with the heat rising. District policies also have the

student’s health the most important aspect to consider. If I were to keep those kids at school

knowing how dangerous it is, I can lose my license and even be let go because of the poor

decision I made to continue school.

Collaboration with Faculty and Community

Possible stakeholders involved in the decision-making process would be all administration of

the school, superintendent, school nurse, staff, and parents. The decision will start with

administration, superintendent, and school nurse. I would include the nurse because she is

familiar with student health concerns in the building and heat stroke. Once the decision is

made, teachers will be notified and an email will be sent to them with safety protocols to
support the students. Parents and students will then be notified. As more stakeholders are being

notified, one of the administrators will get into contact with transportation to start preparing

students to leave.

Solution and Rationale

The solution I chose for the dangerous heat situation at Sunset Hills was to shut down the

school early while taking into consideration if the air conditioning system can be fixed. I chose

to shut down the school because the wide range of ages that are more susceptible to damages in

health. “High temperatures and extreme heat can cause children to become sick very quickly in

several ways. It can cause dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat cramps and heat stroke, which is a

medical emergency” (Davies, n.d.). Having maintenance look into how serious the air

conditioning issue is, will determine how long the school will be shut down.

This solution protects welfare and safety of students and staff. It complies with laws that

protect student safety and health. It also protects schools from being sued over endangering

students and staff. The process that I chose to take includes all the appropriate stakeholders that

involves the school and families. Stakeholders involved are all the administrators, super

intendent, school nurse, teachers, students, families, and the community.

Action Steps and Timeline

Step One: Maintenance needs to identify the issue and when it can be solved. The inside of the

school needs to have frequent temperature checks and administration will look into the weather
for the remainder of the day. Send email to teachers to keep students indoors and to do limited

activity in gym class. (Done all at once with administration and office secretary. Continued

temperature checks.)

Step Two: Once maintenance is able to identify if the issue will not be fixed anytime soon,

contact super intendent about situation and discuss safety of students and evacuation plan.

Step Three: Communicate to teachers and contact school nurse to be on school campus in case

of emergency. Teachers will be informed of keeping students hydrated, symptoms to look for,

and to keep students calm with limited physical activity until transportation is contact.

Step Four: Contact transportation for an ETA and how to proceed.

Step Five: Notify parents starting with the youngest students. Parents will be informed that they

are able to pick their children up and that transportation will be provided on buses if needed.

Step Six: Announce on communication resources so families are aware if they didn’t receive the

message and the community is aware of the situation.

 References

Extreme Heat | Arizona Emergency information Network. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2022,

from https://ein.az.gov/hazards/extreme-heat

Extreme Heat: Keeping Kids Safe When Temperatures Soar. Dele Davies,

(n.d.). HealthyChildren.org. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-home/Pages/Protecting-

Children-from-Extreme-Heat-Information-for-Parents.aspx