October 17, 2019
Members of the Irvine Unified School District’s (District) Emergency Operation Center continued discussions regarding the Business Continuity Plan. The purpose of a business continuity plan is to prepare the District in the event of disaster/emergency caused by factors beyond the District’s control (e.g., natural disasters, man-made events, etc.) and to restore the District to normal operations as soon as practical. Planning focused on four (4) key restoration areas: Facilities; Educational Instruction; Technology Infrastructure; and Business Service Operations.
The Irvine Unified School District (District) participated in the County of Orange’s multi-jurisdictional exercise. The exercise explored how agencies respond 39 hours after a catastrophic earthquake impacted the Southern California region. There were many objectives that were examined during the tabletop exercise. Some of the tabletop objectives included:
- Develop the ability for the District Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to effectively staff and operate.
- Develop the ability of District EOC staff to access and utilize WebEOC for situational awareness and information.
- Develop the ability for District EOC staff to consider community impacts beyond the initial response phase.
The Irvine Unified School District partnered with the City of Irvine and the Orange County Fire Authority in this joint wildfire planning exercise. The wildfire exercise originated in the Santiago Canyon area and impacted Northwood High School and Canyon View Elementary School. Exercise objectives focused on the establishment of proper communication lines between the Unified Command Post (Irvine Police Department and Orange County Fire Authority) and the Irvine Unified School District. As these proper communication channels were developed, it was critical to coordinate either a timely evacuation or shelter-in-place of Northwood High School and/or Canyon View Elementary School.