School Safety 101

School safety does not have to be expensive, but it does have to be a priority. Every school district can make the proactive decision to create a culture of safety in their schools, a culture that demonstrates through its active campus safety teams, proactive threat assessment teams, realistic all-hazards drills and comprehensive training for students, faculty, staff and stakeholders that school violence in any form will not be tolerated. Throughout this book you will be exposed to safety innovations and security technologies. There is no doubt that some of these measures, when applied to the correct situation, can have a positive impact; however, creating a comprehensive safety initiative is always more about instilling values than about spending money. School administrators, teachers, students and parents must be committed to implementing necessary school safeguards from the physical design of the facility to its day-to-day management of safety and security concerns. A comprehensive and proactive school safety system must be grounded in actionable threat assessment teams, pragmatic school safety plans, realistic crisis response drills and sustained target hardening tactics. This 4th edition of the award-winning School Safety 101 places a renewed emphasis on the importance of threat assessment and identifying and responding to early warning signs prior to an attack. According to research 78% of all school mass shooters were current or recent former students from the school and that 68% of the time there were significant and obvious warning signs that were missed by schools, law enforcement and mental health professionals. School districts must place a renewed emphasis on actionable and comprehensive threat assessment teams that directly correlate threats with specific services and sanctions which can mitigate the possibility of a school shooting. This updated edition also presents familiar chapters on school safety preparation and response, including the importance of proactive campus safety teams remaining vigilant in conducting school safety audits and crisis response planning and practice that meets each specific school's needs and realistically represents the dangers schools face in the 21st century. The 4th Edition of School Safety 101 also presents new research from Mass Shootings: Six Steps to Survival and highlights the ESCAPE model, an easy-to-remember six-step process developed from actual actions taken and decisions made by individuals who survived these terrible attacks. The ESCAPE Model can be taught in an age-appropriate level to children of all ages, and when combined with basic pre-planning and civilian situational awareness, can potentially save lives in the event of an attack.