The "PREPaRE School Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum" is considered by its developers to be the first and only comprehensive, internationally available curriculum developed by school psychologists with firsthand experience and training in school crisis preparedness. It includes two separate yet complementary…

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unpredictable crisis for schools. Schools transitioned their teaching from classrooms to teaching online. The holistic safety of the schools' was under a serious threat. Various measures of crisis management aimed at upholding holistic school safety, which includes physical, social, psychological and pedagogical…

Two states that are more than 2,000 miles apart have a similar goal: to embed best practices in crisis preparedness. Arizona and Pennsylvania are motivated to use the "PREPaRE School Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum," 3rd Edition (Brock et al., 2016) across their states to increase school and practitioner readiness…

This dissertation examines the fidelity in which school districts are prepared to implement their reunification plan in the event of a tragedy or emergency. School emergencies continue to occur, and safety plans need to be developed and administered to support and protect students and staff. This dissertation is organized into two separate papers.…

School principals are responsible for the safety and well-being of the children entrusted to their care. Parents expect their children to be safe and protected and that school leaders establish and maintain clear lines of communication during a time of crisis. Within their capacity as school leaders, it is incumbent on them to guarantee that…

This study aimed to identify potential gaps related to crisis preparedness at 98 public secondary schools, as such crises may occur following a substantiated eminent threat of school violence. Crisis preparedness data collected by trained external assessors captured knowledge of the procedure for responding in a safety-related crisis and process…

The presence of volunteers, both affiliated and unaffiliated, and the influx of donations during and after an emergency can be addressed through a comprehensive emergency operations plan (EOP). Education agencies and their planning teams must consider developing a system that addresses the different types of donations and volunteers, how they will…

Accidents and disasters can potentially affect most elementary school students. Accordingly, comprehensive school safety is important to ensure children's safety. This study aimed to identify the key indicators of the minimum standards for Disaster Preparedness and Safety School programs as a conceptual framework of comprehensive school safety in…

When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, public safety departments at four-year institutions of higher education in the U.S. were vulnerable. This vulnerability was because of the limited time they had to initiate their pandemic response to help protect their campus communities, and the need to create or revise institutional emergency response…

In the context of school safety, family reunification means to reunite children with verified and authorized family members after a critical and often highly stressful incident (e.g., a fire, a natural disaster, a school bus accident, a situation involving weapons or violence at school, etc.) that disrupts the school day and prompts the need for a…

School crisis situations are increasingly prevalent, yet many educational leaders lack adequate preparation for crisis prevention and intervention upon assuming administrative roles. This gap poses severe implications for the well-being of school communities. To address this issue, a study was conducted within a university educational leadership…

Active shooter incidents are increasing across the United States. School leaders are faced with continued challenges in the classroom with growing concerns of school safety for students and teachers. Active shooter training is mandated in Texas. Yet, unknown are perceptions of teachers in Texas about active shooter training. The purpose of this…

We describe how a modified version of an emergency survival strategy led our team in addressing problems of practice identified in two second grade classrooms. We attended to the urgent needs of students by enacting the curriculum with integrity, doing what was most important and effective, while accommodating their classroom context (LeMahieu,…

Challenges in higher education continue to arise, providing administrators with insights into how prepared--or unprepared--their institutions may be for future crises. The purpose of the study is to examine how mid-level leadership, staff, and students perceived the disaster response to Hurricane Ida during the 2021-2022 academic year. Using the…

Despite a lack of empirical support for its efficacy in reducing violence, there remains a strong tendency among schools to respond to the threat of school violence via increased security measures, such as school resource officers (SROs) (Jonson, 2017). Although the implementation of SROs continues to center on their law enforcement background and…