The purpose of this study is to delve into, and further understand, the perceptions of higher education administrators when they experience having to simultaneously balance the issues of campus safety and student privacy. The research surveyed approximately 900 (with 147 returns) administrators who self-identified as having a role in incidents of…

In this article, the author discusses the important roles that students, school staff and teachers play in keeping the school safe particularly from weapons. The author believes that one way that they do this is by working together to reduce the problem of weapons in school. The role of school staff and teachers extends beyond prevention and…

This study assessed implementation of food defense practices in public schools in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The first phase involved a qualitative multi-site case study: one-day visits were made to five school districts in the states of Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. A principal,…

In this book, award-winning educator Cathie West teaches readers how to confidently prepare for and respond to the challenges that come with being a school leader. Derived from professional experience and extensive research, the strategies can be put to work exactly as described or adapted to fit the unique situations that educators face in their…

It is of vital importance that children are educated in a safe environment. Every school needs to have a well-developed crisis management document containing plans for prevention, intervention, and postvention. We developed the Comprehensive Crisis Plan Checklist (CCPC) to serve as a valuable tool that can be used to assist practitioners with…

Historically, the Palm Springs Unified School District (PSUSD) in Palm Springs, California, has made it a priority to provide preventive services to students and their families. It was this priority that motivated the district's administration to pursue additional training in crisis prevention and response. It was, and is, their belief that the…

Student and parent use of cell phones, text messaging and social networking through Facebook and Twitter can quickly become the enemies of a superintendent and principal. Rumors and misinformation about threats and other student safety issues that used to take hours and days to spread now goes viral in seconds. This rapid dissemination of…

Preparing for every possible contingency seems daunting, but with teamwork and some help from the government, it's almost do-able. There is a great system out there that will help business professionals and educators develop a strong, effective emergency preparedness plan. If they haven't done a good job of implementing a solid emergency response…

School system leaders never know when disaster may strike. Having a plan in place to protect vital data and systems is crucial. School system leaders need to be actively involved in crisis preparedness, planned response, and recovery to ensure student and staff safety and to make certain that all important operations, services, processes, and…

School systems and police departments are community partners, and ensuring student, faculty, and officer safety is a high priority for both. In Pennsylvania, police departments are being both innovative and proactive by using wireless technology to handle school safety. If there's an emergency, local police departments can increase situational…

On a daily basis, administrators are reminded of the potential, perhaps the likelihood, of violence or natural crises on their campuses. Comprehensive studies have been conducted and point to recommendations and best practices for planning, preparing, responding to, and recovering from critical incidents. The International Association of Campus…

Your school has plans and protocols in place to respond to fires, severe weather, medical emergencies, fights and weapons possession. But what about school incidents like those listed above that involve bigotry and hate? Are plans in place to respond to a bias incident or hate crime? Too often these plans are created in the moment during the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a training program for the faculty of a private elementary school on executing the protocols, roles, and responsibilities defined in the institution's crisis-management plan. A formal training program for the faculty had not been developed, and administrators had no measure by which…

School shootings have generated great public concern and fostered a widespread impression that schools are unsafe for many students; this article counters those misapprehensions by examining empirical evidence of school and community violence trends and reviewing evidence on best practices for preventing school shootings. Many of the school safety…

The actions of two assailants who shot and killed 10 people and wounded three others, including a student, in the region around Washington, D.C., in October 2002, provides the backdrop for a qualitative study of the emergency response by school district leaders in Montgomery County, Maryland. The study explores and describes the experiences of the…