Disaster preparedness is no longer a technical exercise—it is a district leadership responsibility.

In this episode, we explore how school systems can proactively prepare for technology and operational disruptions by establishing clear recovery priorities before a crisis occurs. From cybersecurity incidents to system outages to infrastructure failures, even short-term downtime can halt instruction, delay transportation, disrupt payroll, and impact student safety.

Using CoSN’s disaster recovery guidance as the foundation, this conversation walks through the strategic decisions districts must make to move from reactive response to structured resilience.

We break down the core components of effective disaster preparedness, including:

• Why recovery prioritization must be defined in advance

• The leadership role in setting organizational—not just technical—recovery goals

• How Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) shape decision-making

• The importance of identifying mission-critical systems

• Building a cross-department stakeholder team

• Understanding system dependencies before an outage occurs

• Why tabletop exercises turn plans into executable action

• The need for continuous review as technology environments evolve

This episode reframes disaster recovery as a learning continuity strategy, not an IT checklist. When districts align technology recovery with operational workflows and instructional priorities, they reduce downtime, protect essential services, and restore trust faster.

Whether your district is starting from scratch or refining an existing continuity plan, this conversation provides the governance framework needed to lead the work.

Key Takeaways

• Disaster recovery is an organizational decision, not a technology decision

• Recovery priorities must be approved before a crisis

• Systems tied to life, health, and safety always come first

• RTO and RPO are leadership-defined tolerance levels

• Dependencies determine how quickly systems can be restored

• Testing reveals gaps before real incidents occur

• Disaster preparedness is a living, annually updated process

Resources

CoSN’s disaster preparedness materials

In the next episode, we move from strategy to execution—walking step-by-step through the CoSN Disaster Recovery Plan Template and showing how districts can document, test, and operationalize their recovery plans.

Produced in partnership with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠edCircuit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CoSN is vendor-neutral and does not endorse products or services. Any mention of a specific solution is for contextual purposes.

This episode was generated in part using AI tools. All content was reviewed and approved by CoSN and the edCircuit editorial team before publication.