The purpose of this quantitative study was to find out the current status of school safety in regard to how school buildings are secured and how much the staff is trained on how to handle security related issues. The research was based on the differences between rural, suburban, and urban schools in the state of Illinois. My interest in this topic is a result of a decade of my life being devoted to public safety as a law enforcement officer. As a current educator, I still have an interest in the intricacies of safety as it relates to school settings. School security is also quite a timely issue, considering the recent school shootings that have occurred. As a result of this quantitative study, statistically significant differences between rural and suburban and rural and urban respondents were found. The study found that security-based resources are generally more sparsely funded in rural areas due partially to political factors in the state of Illinois, thereby making these schools more vulnerable to breaches in security. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]