School safety is a primary societal concern due to catastrophic incidences of violence and educational leaders have a duty to ensure children's security. School shootings spotlight failures in school safety but educators and scholars cannot use tragedy to bridge the gap in high-efficacy practice. The problem is that school safety needs to improve…

This examination sought to gather data on the perceived degree of violence in schools and the effectiveness of the school resource officer (SRO) programs developed and implemented to reduce school violence. In addition, the perceived responsibilities of SROs were examined, highlighting their variability and scope. For this purpose, Florida K-12…

The doctrine of sovereign immunity in Florida has evolved over time as the common law and statutory environment within the state has changed. Public schools and public-school employees enjoy some level of immunity protection under both common law and statutory law. Nonetheless, Florida law creates a duty to provide a safe environment for students…

Over time, education has become increasingly more legalistic and litigious. The danger of litigation is an imminent threat for agricultural educators due to the potential financial and professional ramifications. In many cases, agricultural educators may be at higher risk for a lawsuit than teachers of other subjects due to the increased liability…

The issue of school safety is of paramount concern but what is lacking is clarity on the best course of action aimed at bolstering safety in public schools. We sought to answer the following research questions: What topics are addressed in school board policies related to arming employees? What outlying policy topics are addressed in school board…

Scholars have explored ways in which school shooting events have impacted students' perception of safety. However, less is known on whether the effects of school shootings are stable across time and event. This study uses data collected through the Delaware School Survey before and after three school shootings, Columbine (1999), Virginia Tech…

Following increased attention to racial disparities in police use of force, national conversations have focused on the role of law enforcement, including in public schools. This study examines transparency with regard to the presence of law enforcement in schools. Leveraging novel school-level and district-level data from the state of Florida,…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Breaking Barriers to Learning." Contents include: (1) The Importance of…

We examined the effectiveness of the "Say Something Anonymous Reporting System" (SS-ARS) program in improving school safety in a cluster randomized control trial among over 700 students in 19 middle schools in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The SS-ARS is a program that emphasizes youth engagement and trains youth to recognize…

For colleges and universities, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) presents a significant set of challenges in pursuit of campus safety. The namesake of this law followed the tragic death of Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University Student, who was sexually assaulted and murdered in her…

This study used self-administered survey data from seven high schools in Florida with a majority Black and/or Hispanic sample to examine transgender students' perceptions and experiences related to school climate in comparison to cisgender students. Using propensity score matching, a matched analytic sample was created of transgender and cisgender…

There is a national problem with campus safety (CS) at universities and colleges in the United States. Research on this topic has primary focused on the perceptions of faculty, staff, and administrators about CS, while the research including the perceptions of students is largely absent. It is important to investigate students' perceptions of CS…

This article explores the library space needs and wants of graduate and undergraduate students at a medium-size state University in Southwest Florida. The researcher conducted a sequential explanatory mixed methods study in which they administered a survey to all currently enrolled graduate and undergraduate students at the university and followed…

David Blacker points to a problematic decline in personal freedoms, including student speech rights: "[A]s the 'educational mission' of schools moves ineluctably even further toward warehousing and surveillance--pre-jail--then remaining intra-institutional speech rights will easily be quashed." Critical of the elastic conception of…

In response to mass gun shooting incidents in schools, some school districts have been hiring additional social workers to help prevent further incidents. This qualitative study will explore the potential roles that school social workers may play, including early identification and intervention, screening, risk assessment, crisis intervention,…