Renee Domingo: Leading Development of School Safety Standards
Renee Domingo began developing school emergency plans in 1990, including the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) School Site Emergency Response Plan. The plan she created at that time for OUSD, in Oakland, California, was a collaborative effort with various subject matter experts from emergency management, law enforcement, the fire department, the school district, school board members, teachers, administrators, principals and parents. She was the Director of Emergency Services and Homeland Security, Oakland Fire Department when she retired in 2014.
The plan was the first school site plan to incorporate California’s required, Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) which is very similar to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The plan provided emergency planning for the 122 Oakland school sites and more than 50,000 students. At that time, the California School Board Association and various cities nationwide used it as a national “model” plan.
The plan was the first school site plan to incorporate California’s required, Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) which is very similar to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The plan provided emergency planning for the 122 Oakland school sites and more than 50,000 students. At that time, the California School Board Association and various cities nationwide used it as a national “model” plan.
Award Winning Project Impact Coordinator (FEMA)
During Ms. Domingo’s tenure with the Oakland Office of Emergency Services in California, her responsibilities included the development, implementation and management of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Project Impact initiative, called Project SAFE in Oakland. Ms. Domingo received the first National Award for her efforts from FEMA, as the Public Sector Employee of the Year in 1998.
During Ms. Domingo’s tenure with the Oakland Office of Emergency Services in California, her responsibilities included the development, implementation and management of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Project Impact initiative, called Project SAFE in Oakland. Ms. Domingo received the first National Award for her efforts from FEMA, as the Public Sector Employee of the Year in 1998.
Renee Domingo, far right standing, during an emergency management workshop for principals at the Washoe County School District in 2006.
Training School Administers and School Boards
Ms. Domingo served as an instructor since 2005. She was tasked with teaching administrators, principals, teachers and staff on how to develop emergency response teams using incident command system (ICS) procedures and has assisted with plan review, development and refinement. She also developed a series of Emergency Management courses at Sonoma State University in California.
She worked with five (5) California County Offices of Education (Sonoma County, Mendocino County, Lake County, Del Norte County and Humboldt County Offices of Education) providing emergency management technical expertise which represent over 500 schools and 50 districts.
She also worked with the California Community Colleges System office which represented 109 colleges and is the largest community college system in the world. She served as an Emergency Management Senior Adviser for developing a system wide emergency management program which will include risk assessments, plan reviews and development and training.
Ms. Domingo also developed two emergency plans for the Washoe County School District, Emergency Response Plan and School Site Emergency Management Plan. The plans were developed as part of a Department of Education (DOE) Emergency Management & Crisis Management Grant in 2006 - 2007. She also taught emergency management classes to the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees, District Incident Response Team and several workshops for school principals.
Safe to Learn Advisory Council | Renee Domingo