Key points:

• Every moment is critical during a school emergency, and having the right tools is a must
• An emergency response app helped one school leader receive and deploy clear communication

I was in a meeting when I heard the sirens. I immediately excused myself and saw the first squad car screech to a halt in front of our doors and knew it was bad. The police department had just received a call saying there was an active shooter somewhere at Spanish Fork High School and two students were deceased.  

As it turns out, we were the victim of a coordinated hoax that targeted schools throughout Utah and other states, but for the next 24 minutes, this was our reality and as principal, I had to act. My emotions almost got the better of me; not only do I care deeply about each and every one of our 1,469 students, I also have a daughter who was in class just down the hall. I almost lost my motor skills but was able to pull my phone from my pocket to instantly lock down the school with the push of a button and watch our emergency plan unfold almost flawlessly before my eyes.   

To fully understand the importance and power of that simple act, we need to take a step back. I have been the school’s principal for four years. Although we had published an emergency plan and conducted drills four or five times every year, from day one, I felt there was something off or missing from those plans. We had the standard procedures and instructions for locking classrooms, counting students and making announcements on the PA system, but nothing that would help us know what is happing in the moment, coordinate actions between law enforcement and school administrators or communicate with teachers and staff to effectively manage the chaos.  

A few months ago, I was approached by a former student who wanted to introduce me to a technology called AEGIX AIM (Active Incident Management) that other schools have implemented to address the very challenges I was worried about. We received approval from the district to install and pilot the software. As fate would have it, we finished rolling it out and conducted staff training on it exactly one week before the active shooter hoax was perpetrated.   

According to The Washington Post, more than 331,000 children at more than 350 schools have experienced gun violence during school hours since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. And while school shootings tend to capture news headlines, they are not the only ill plaguing schools today.

According to the CDC, about one in five high school students report being bullied on school property. These numbers do not include the faculty and staff that may have also been affected by these situations. Not to mention the increase in severe weather events – in the first three months of 2023, schools across the nation have scrambled to secure buildings and protect students because of heavy snow, rain, flooding, tornadoes and wildfires.  

The unfortunate reality is that it’s not a matter of if an emergency impacts a school–it’s a matter of when. And when an adverse incident occurs, time is of the essence. Here are three tips to help educational leaders effectively manage safety gaps and mitigate risks in their school community and ensure a swift response.

Revaluate current safety plans

The backbone of emergency preparedness is a comprehensive, well-articulated and practiced plan that identifies important resources, key stakeholders, and communication methods that will be utilized throughout an incident. At a minimum, plans should be reevaluated before the beginning of the school year and then again at the beginning of the calendar year to ensure that new protocols and technologies are being considered and implemented for every scenario. For example, schools in the normally wildfire-prone areas out West may want to revisit their emergency plans after the flooding that has polarized that part of the country in 2023.

While instances of school violence are on the rise, there is strong evidence to suggest that upstream violence prevention is what’s needed to curb this trend. Since 1999 there have been over 300 violent tragedies that have played out from college campuses to elementary schools, and 320K students have been exposed to gun violence. 

According to a 2019 CDC study involving 13,667 students, 1 in 5 report of being bullied on school property within the last year and roughly 8 percent of high school students surveyed indicated they had been in a physical fight on school property at least one or more times within the last year.  

These events have cast a spotlight on school safety and have put teachers, students and administrators squarely at the center of taking steps to create a positive school environment. It is widely known that a safe and supportive learning environment has a profound, positive impact on the academic success, mental health, and social well-being of students.

Why an Increase in Violence?

The 21^st century has seen a 19 percent increase in violent events on school property. Experts attribute this increase to distinct factors including severe and long-term bullying experienced by the perpetrator, non-compliance and withdrawal side effects of psychiatric medications, social media, exposure to violent content, access to weapons, and a lack of mental health resources.

Upstream Violence Prevention

One of the most effective approaches to stemming the school violence crisis is a scalable community approach using upstream violence prevention. This approach refers to preventing violence before it starts by giving members of the school community the tools and accountability to ensure a safe environment for all.

Tips and Strategies for Upstream Prevention

• Creating a safe, inclusive school community
• Violence and bullying prevention training for students, staff, and parents/caregivers
• Zero tolerance bullying policy
• Readily available mental health service for student referrals  
• Threat assessment by school or district

Training as part of Prevention

One way that schools and districts are setting a stable foundation for violence prevention is through educator and student training. From game-like training simulations to videos and digital content delivered via on demand modules, schools are trying to get ahead of the behaviors and attitudes that lead to incidences and violent situations on school grounds.

By giving students the tools to understand their emotions, teaching growth through resiliency and understanding when to seek out help for themselves or a peer in distress, districts are finding powerful, lasting support from online training that can be integrated into a school curriculum.

How to Integrate a Training Curriculum

To realize the greatest benefit from both educator and student training, it’s recommended that schools and districts create a roll out plan, train facilitators and measure outcomes.

Create a roll out plan: To ensure the training is integrated into the curriculum and that students have adequate time to complete it, each school/district should appoint a team that will manage the roll out the training program.

Train the facilitator: If the training will be offered as part of the curriculum it’s important that each facilitator is completely trained on the content, how to handle student questions and understands how to make referrals to support for students in distress. Facilitator training as well as resource guides for reference are essential.

Establish benchmarks & measure: To demonstrate the effectiveness of the training, schools or districts should establish how they will measure outcomes. This could be measured by the number of students and educators trained over a school year or the decrease/ increase in the number of violent incidences on school grounds.

Related:
4 major components of school violence prevention
How to talk to your students about trauma and school violence

Schools do so much for a community. They provide a safe place for children to learn and grow each day, filled with educators who truly care. However, as a parent or educator, it’s important to understand that many schools aren’t being used to their full potential.

When utilized properly, local schools can uplift safety in your community, providing a place outside of traditional school hours for children and families to feel secure and supported.

The task of neighborhood safety shouldn’t fall solely on teachers and administrators. However, these individuals who have regular contact with local youth can spearhead the initiatives that promote safety in the community.

If you’re not sure where to get started with that kind of promotion, let’s cover a few ideas that can increase the role schools play in community safety and security.

Community Outreach Programs

One of the best ways to utilize local schools is to transform them into community centers when classes aren’t in session. School outreach programs provide countless benefits for kids and teens. They bring resources into the buildings that keep young people engaged while providing a place of safety after school. Some of the biggest benefits include:

• Continued education on specific issues;
• Behavioral changes;
• The promotion of civic engagement;
• Improved student outcomes.

If you’re not sure how to transform your space into a community center, think about what your neighborhood really needs. Some teachers could volunteer to teach specialized classes. You could open up the gym to offer sports programs to kids and adults alike. Professionals from the community might be willing to come and teach parents about things like financial health and self-care.

Related:
5 school safety questions your district should be prepared to answer
Learn to align your communication strategies with school safety

Having a campus-wide communication ecosystem is imperative, and school district leaders have no higher priority than to create secure and informed campus environments.

Being able to initiate a controlled emergency notification protocol to alert, notify and monitor directly from a mobile device, classroom audio system, or interactive flat panel is essential.

An eSchool News panel of experts, including Brent Thrasher, Instructional Technology Coordinator at Overton County Schools and Todd Eddy from Galaxy Next Generation, offers insights into how to make better decisions, prevent risk, and strengthen communication between faculty, administration, and first responders during an active threat.

Topics include:

• How to immediately notify teachers of a lockdown through software alerts.
• How to instantly notify law enforcement and first responders.
• How to monitor communication within your entire ecosystem using one software platform.

Related:
3 keys to school communication and community-building

With students and educators reentering their classrooms for the 2022-23 school year, district leaders need to be able to reassure everyone in their school community that school safety is a priority and that they will be safe physically, socially, and emotionally.

Decades’ worth of research have shown that school safety, school climate, and student well-being are all important for academic achievement. The conditions that support them are complex and ever-shifting, which means it’s a constant challenge to create an optimal learning environment. That’s why district leaders should always be ready to explain what their school safety plans are and how their administration arrived at them.

Be prepared to answer these five questions on the topic of school safety from parents, educators, and students as you head back to school:

1. What is our district-wide approach to safety and what mechanisms are in place to ensure it is known and followed?

As we’ve seen over the past year, emergencies due to natural disasters, medical situations, active shooter threats, and other causes can happen at any place and time. Having a comprehensive security and safety program is one of district leaders’ most important responsibilities.

The federal government recommends that every district create an Emergency Operations Plan (school EOP) that outlines how it will prepare for, respond to, and recover from an emergency. In addition to having an updated EOP based on risk assessments and lessons your school has learned over time, it’s crucial to train staff through education and drills in coordination with local first responders; test communications systems; conduct audits; run alerts and reunification drills; and update building maps. Today’s representative safety training is going beyond the typical active shooter training and fire drills, and now incorporates many all-hazard situations as well as training on bullying, suicide, and basic first aid.

2. What is your district doing to deter attacks and violence?

Violence is preventable. Early detection, assessment, and intervention in cases where individuals may pose a threat are crucial.

Putting tools and technology in place to detect and become aware of threats is an important part of a holistic approach. Programs to educate students, staff, and the community on how to recognize concerning behavior and report tips and information anonymously are table-stakes high today. And, in today’s digital world, threats and warning signs are abundant – something known as “leakage” – which can be detected through email and social media scanning technology, as well as web filtering that can detect high-risk issues at scale using artificial intelligence (AI). These tools help schools get ahead of harmful intent before it escalates.

Read More:

6 things parents can do to boost school security efforts
How administrators can address mental health and physical safety this fall