Federal emergency grant. San Marcos school - Essay Example

Federal Emergency Grant San Marcos is a district boarding school in Texas, one of the most economically viable s in the entire United States of America. This economic viability has resulted in population growth a factor that has affected the school in a number of ways. The school that was established in the early parts of last century was meant to offer academic services to about one thousand two hundred students, but the increase in demand for academic services owing to the increasing population in the state, has resulted in the school admitting more than two thousand students.

The increase in the number of students thus compels the school to restructure a number of its emergency response strategies. The most common emergency situations that have been known to affect schools include outbreak of fires, floods and the collapse of terminally ill students among others all of which require impromptu response so as to avert any loss of lives. In the past the school had in place strategies and resources which ensured that emergency situations were responded to in time and that no loss of life has ever been recorded in the history of the school.

But with the increase in student population there is in deed very viable need for fear since most of these provisions are outstretched. Restructuring these to cater for the current student population is reasonably costly thereby making the grant application sensible (Burnett, 2008). Some of these include: Architectural re-mapping which is the most expensive undertaking, the sizes of the classes and the dormitories can not comfortably sit the increased number of students that school admits today.

The school musty therefore be compelled to expand the land on which it sits, but given the fact that the Texas state has a number of natural springs and the wider girth of the state is a wet land, the school will therefore have to rehabilitate a very large parcel of land (Kimmel, 2006). After the effective rehabilitation, the school will resort in the construction of newer class rooms, dormitories and other facilities. These should be made spacious enough to allow for emergency response. The windows and doors must be made to open outwards and be fitted with no grills.

These allows for quicker and safer evacuation of the facility in case of a fire outbreak. The construction of these new facilities will also have to take into consideration the need for the students to access other facilities with ease, the distance between a dormitory and the class rooms and the library must be close enough so as not to tire the students some of whom could be terminally ill. The distance should also be equally safe so that in case of any fire outbreak in any one quarter does not spread to others.

The school will also have to purchase a number of emergency response facilities. The corridors within the school fitted with fire extinguishers. Additionally the school currently owns two mini vans fitted with ambulance facilities, these are not adequate given the number of those who may seek these ambulance services. The teachers, the support staff and the two thousand plus students is most definitely a sizable demand. The school should therefore purchase at least eight other ambulances totaling the number to ten.

With very spacious corridors, less congested dormitories and class rooms, fire extinguishers installed at specific intervals and the ambulance vans standing by, the school will be in a position to respond to any unique emergency situation. However, there are other very unique occurrences that may still offer challenge to the emergency plan of any set up. Earth quakes and natural calamities may jeopardize the lives of very many and will therefore require external aid; the school must thus operate in liaison with the US fire administration, police, Emergency Response Institute and the Federal Emergency Management Agency among others.

The services of such organizations make investigations into calamities easier besides the fact that they offer effective evacuation and rescue services (Ashby, 2010). Grants are given to academic institutions by the government through the department of the education. For this to be effected the school must substantiate that in deed it is in dire need for the grant by clearly outlining the activities it seeks to undertake with the grant (Ashby, 2010). San Marcos is a very large facility that caters for the lives of very many students who are consequently members of the United States of America fraternity.

The government swore to protect all her citizens, the loss of life of any student at the facility will not only be blamed on the school but the entire state authorities and government will help bear the blame. The school has effectively done its part, the increase in the student population at the facility can not be entirely blamed on the school, the society has been expanding and it was part of social responsibility for the school to cater for more students. The new undertakings to ensure that the school environment is safe for the children have been identified and tabled.

The challenge thus lies with the department of education. The claims are valid since some of the undertakings are very costly and way beyond the capabilities of the school. References Ashby, C. (2010). Grant Monitoring: Department of Education Could Improve Its Processes with Greater Focus on Assessing Risks, Acquiring Financial Skills, and Sharing Information. New York: DIANE Publishing. Burnett, J. (2008). Flash Floods in Texas. Texas: Texas A & M University Press. Kimmel, J. (2006). The San Marcos: A River's Story.

Texas: Texas A & M University Press.