SGER: Emergency Response and the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Texas Public Schools

摘要：K-12学校是美国社会基础设施不可或缺的组成部分。然而，关于这些组织如何参与应对我们可能面临的各种类型的危险(从自然灾害到恐怖袭击，再到暴力学生)的更大的灾害应对系统，人们知之甚少。在最近的卡特里娜飓风中，K-12学校被要求接收数万名流离失所的儿童。如果没有学校的紧密结合，向因卡特里娜飓风而流离失所的人提供的社会服务网络将是不完整的。这项研究将评估流离失所者对德克萨斯州学区的影响，并分析学区与不同救援人员合作的经验。这项研究还将收集关于学区感知的灾害脆弱性以及飓风对学区应急规划进程的影响的易腐烂数据。这项研究将有助于对教育组织、灾害应对以及公共组织在灾害和应急准备方面的合作的作用的科学知识。这项研究有四个可能的贡献。首先，这项研究将评估因卡特里娜飓风而流离失所的人们对德克萨斯州学区的影响。其次，这项研究将确定与K-12学区在应对卡特里娜飓风方面的政策协作最密切相关的因素。第三，这项研究将有助于网络政策制定和公共管理的文献。虽然人们普遍认为，越来越多的政策制定发生在协作网络中，但人们对灾害应对中高效协作的决定因素知之甚少。第四，这项研究将有助于我们理解灾害如何影响在教育组织中发起的规划过程。这项研究将揭示路易斯安那州、密西西比州和阿拉巴马州的灾难如何影响德克萨斯州学区的脆弱性评估。这些贡献应该使学校的应急规划者(以及那些与学校合作的人)了解如何最好地协调由急救人员和救援组织组成的复杂网络中的灾难应对。

Abstract:K-12 schools are an integral component of America's societal infrastructure. However, little is known about how these organizations participate in the larger system of disaster response for the various types of hazards we may face (which range from natural disasters, to terrorist attack, to violent students). In the case of the recent Hurricane Katrina, K-12 schools have been asked to absorb tens of thousands of displaced children. Without the close integration of schools, the network of social services provided to persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be incomplete. This study will assess the impact of displaced persons on school districts in Texas as well as analyze the school districts' experiences collaborating with the various deliverers of relief. This research will also gather perishable data on the districts' perceived vulnerability to disaster and the impact of the hurricane on emergency planning processes in school districts. This study will contribute to scientific knowledge about educational organizations, disaster response, and the role of collaboration on hazard and emergency preparedness in public organizations. There are four likely contributions of this study. First, the study will provide an assessment of the impact of the movement of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina on school districts in Texas. Second, the research will identify the factors most closely related to policy collaboration on the part of K-12 school districts in the response to Hurricane Katrina. Third, the research will contribute to the literature on network policy making and public management. While there is broad consensus that an increasing amount of policy making is occurring in collaborative networks, there is little known about the determinants of highly effective collaboration in disaster response. Fourth, the research will contribute to our understanding of how disasters affect the planning processes initiated in educational organizations. The research will reveal how the disaster in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama has affected the vulnerability assessments of school districts in Texas. These contributions should empower emergency planners in schools (and those who work with schools) to understand how best to coordinate disaster response in a complex network of first responders and relief organizations.