When disasters strike—floods, wildfires, ice storms, or pandemics—communities need safe places to gather, receive information, and access essential services. Increasingly, schools are being recognized as more than educational facilities; they serve as critical community infrastructure that can function as emergency hubs when normal systems break down. Understanding how schools can serve this dual purpose, and the planning required to enable it, helps communities build resilience against disasters that are becoming more frequent and severe.
Why Schools as Emergency Hubs?
Community Assets
Schools are uniquely positioned to serve as emergency hubs. They are distributed throughout communities, ensuring geographic accessibility. They have large gathering spaces—gymnasiums, cafeterias, auditoriums—capable of sheltering people. They often have commercial kitchens, basic medical facilities, and communication infrastructure. Their presence in neighbourhoods means they are familiar, trusted locations that people know how to find.
Public Investment
As publicly funded facilities, schools represent significant community infrastructure investment. Using this infrastructure for emergency response maximizes public benefit from existing assets. Rather than building dedicated emergency facilities that sit unused most of the time, communities can leverage schools that serve regular educational purposes while maintaining capacity for emergency functions.
Community Trust
Schools are often trusted community institutions, particularly in areas where trust in government may be limited. Parents, students, and community members have regular contact with schools. This familiarity can make schools more accessible and welcoming as emergency locations than unfamiliar government facilities might be.
Types of Emergency Functions
Evacuation Centres
When residents must evacuate—due to fire, flood, or contamination—schools can provide temporary shelter. Gymnasiums can accommodate cots and sleeping areas. Cafeterias can serve meals. Classrooms can provide private spaces for families or vulnerable individuals. Schools have often served as Red Cross or municipal evacuation centres during Canadian disasters.
Warming and Cooling Centres
During extreme temperature events, schools can provide refuge for those without adequate heating or cooling at home. This function is increasingly important as climate change intensifies heat waves and cold snaps, and as power outages leave homes without climate control.
Resource Distribution
Schools can serve as distribution points for emergency supplies—water during boil advisories, food during supply disruptions, or medications during health emergencies. Their parking lots can accommodate large-scale distribution, and their facilities can store supplies temporarily.
Communication Hubs
When normal communication systems fail, schools can serve as information centres where residents receive updates, access internet connectivity, and charge devices. Schools' existing communication infrastructure—intercoms, internet connections, sometimes backup power—supports this function.
Medical and Vaccination Sites
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated schools' potential as mass vaccination sites. Their large spaces can accommodate vaccination operations with proper flow and distancing. Similar functions could apply to other health emergencies requiring mass screening or treatment.
Planning and Preparation
Infrastructure Requirements
Serving as an effective emergency hub requires specific infrastructure. Backup power ensures continued operation during outages. Adequate water and sanitation capacity serves large populations. Accessible design accommodates people with disabilities. Storage space holds emergency supplies. Not all schools have these features, and retrofitting may be necessary.
Agreements and Protocols
Clear agreements between school boards and emergency management authorities establish who is responsible for what during emergencies. Protocols specify activation procedures, staffing, and operations. Without advance agreements, confusion and gaps may occur during actual emergencies when quick action is needed.
Staff Training
School staff may play roles in emergency response, from facility management to supporting evacuees. Training ensures staff know what to expect and how to contribute. However, expectations must be realistic—school staff are not emergency responders and have their own families to care for during disasters.
Coordination with Emergency Services
Schools serving as emergency hubs must coordinate with fire, police, emergency medical services, and municipal emergency management. Clear chains of command and communication channels prevent conflicts and confusion. Integration into broader emergency plans ensures schools complement rather than complicate response efforts.
Challenges and Considerations
Educational Disruption
Using schools as emergency hubs may disrupt education. Evacuation centres may occupy facilities for extended periods. Damage from emergency use may require repairs before classes resume. Emergency functions must be balanced against educational mandates. Planning can minimize disruption—designating certain schools for emergency use, preparing for remote learning during disruptions, and establishing protocols for returning to normal operations.
Insurance and Liability
Emergency use raises insurance and liability questions. Damage during emergency operations, injuries to evacuees, and other incidents create potential liability for school boards. Adequate insurance coverage and clear liability allocation in agreements with emergency authorities address these concerns.
Security and Access
Schools implement security measures to protect students—controlled access, visitor protocols, secure areas. Emergency use opens schools to large numbers of people, potentially including those who might pose risks. Balancing open access during emergencies with security concerns requires thoughtful protocols.
Resource Requirements
Emergency hub operations require resources—cots, blankets, food, medical supplies, communications equipment. Schools do not normally stock these items. Pre-positioning supplies, establishing supply chains, and coordinating with emergency management agencies ensures resources are available when needed.
Equity in Distribution
Not all schools are equally suitable as emergency hubs. Newer facilities may be better equipped than older ones. Schools in wealthier areas may have more resources than those in lower-income neighbourhoods. Ensuring equitable distribution of emergency hub capacity across communities requires deliberate planning and investment.
Successful Examples
Disaster Response
During major Canadian disasters—the 2013 Alberta floods, 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, ice storms in Eastern Canada—schools served as critical emergency infrastructure. Lessons from these experiences have informed improved planning for future emergencies. Communities that had prepared schools for emergency functions generally fared better than those improvising during crises.
Pandemic Response
Schools served multiple emergency functions during COVID-19—as vaccination sites, testing centres, and food distribution points even while regular instruction was suspended. This experience demonstrated schools' potential for health emergency response while also highlighting challenges of coordinating educational and emergency functions.
Climate Change Implications
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of disasters requiring emergency response. More extreme heat events, more intense precipitation causing flooding, longer wildfire seasons, and more severe storms all increase demands on emergency infrastructure. Schools' role as emergency hubs will likely grow more important as climate impacts intensify.
Climate adaptation planning increasingly incorporates schools as essential community resilience infrastructure. Building new schools with emergency hub capacity and retrofitting existing schools for emergency functions are becoming elements of climate-resilient community planning.
Questions for Further Discussion
- How can schools balance emergency hub functions with their primary educational mandate, particularly during extended emergencies?
- What investments in school infrastructure are needed to enable effective emergency hub functions?
- How should emergency hub capacity be distributed across communities to ensure equitable access during disasters?
- What training and support do school staff need to participate effectively in emergency response?
- How can school emergency planning be integrated with broader community and regional emergency management?