JEFFERSON CITY -- Cape Girardeau schools hope to put a crisis plan in place before a crisis occurs.

At the Board of Education's planning meeting Tuesday, Superintendent Neyland Clark told board members he has secured help from the National School Safety Center on the campus of Pepperdine University in California to implement a school safety plan.

The superintendent said Cape Girardeau does not face serious safety problems, like schools in large urban areas, but he said it's prudent to have a plan, just in case.

Last year, two students brought weapons to school in Cape Girardeau. The two incidents drove home the potential for problems, he said.

"In the event of an incident, or some other kind of disaster like a roof being blown off, we don't have a plan for a spokesman and for holding press conferences and for notifying staff and parents," Clark said.

The National School Safety Center usually works with large schools, like those in Detroit, Chicago or St. Louis.

"I called them anyway to see if they would be interested in helping us make a crisis plan," Clark said. "It just so happened they were looking for schools our size to begin piloting programs."

An official with the center is scheduled to speak at the opening of school this year, Clark said.

The policy will include classroom discipline, Clark said.

"We want to establish an orderly environment so teachers can teach and youngsters can learn," he said.