The terror attack upon Israel this past weekend sent shockwaves across the world. Many U.S. school communities have strong family and cultural ties to Middle Eastern communities. Fear, anxiety, and ambiguity runs high in families and communities with personal connections to this conflict, and across the world in general. As strategic school security leaders, when […]
Peeling back the onion: Strong collaborative models requiring time and persistence are the core of effective school security and emergency preparedness programs (insights from Dr. Stephen Bayne)
The best school security and emergency preparedness is often less visible or even invisible. Research and decades of school safety experience point to the importance of relationships and collaboration within school communities. Dr. Stephen Bayne, a veteran California school safety and emergency preparedness expert, graciously shares his insights based upon his years of experience in […]
How good customer service by school staff sets the tone for safer schools
Starting with a student’s first interaction with their school bus driver in the morning to the parent’s first interaction at the front door buzzer and main office at the school, customer service sets the tone for safer schools. First impressions set the tone — and tone matters My wife and I recently visited an Apple […]
The dangers of “I think” and “I believe” in school security and emergency preparedness planning
It is very common in our interviews of principals and their building safety/crisis/emergency teams (the names vary) to have answers to our questions begin with “I believe” or “I think.” “I believe there is someone always at the church office.” “I think we can get school buses to our school in about 20 minutes from […]
School safety: How will superintendents, principals, and boards keep schools safe – and save face with parents – when pandemic recovery money and state grants disappear?
Many school leaders are funding school security measures and student support services using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Programs (ESSER) and/or American Rescue Plan (ARP) COVID pandemic recovery funds. If school leaders do not have a plan for sustainability once those dollars begin to disappear in the next year or two, school violence and […]
Do you have a game plan for school athletic event security? Shootings and other violence at high school games are not new, but they are far too common and intense
Last night, a 14-year-old boy was killed in a school shooting as police were dispersing a crowd following a Chicago-area high school football game. Meanwhile, in Kansas City, Kansas, shots were fired during a high school football game and the school officer returned fire until the suspects fled. These are the latest in a spate […]
A lesson for superintendents, school boards, and principals on being wise school safety and security consumers: People don’t buy products. They buy solutions to their problems.
“People don’t buy products. They buy solutions to their problems.” This insightful observation, along with a humorous video to illustrate the point, is floating around social media. While some may focus on the video, marketing gurus are using it to impart a bit of wisdom that school leaders must consider when tackling school security challenges […]
School security consultants: For many a retirement job or new income stream, for a few of us a lifelong passion
There are many qualified school safety and security consultants around the U.S. today. But for a much smaller number of us, school safety has been a lifelong passion far before it became trendy to be a school security consultant. An inside look: My school safety journey began as a student in Cleveland junior and senior […]
Focus forward with a tactical pause: Recognize limitations of “single incident expert” school shooting and other school safety recommendations
We glean lessons from each school shooting, but the next may follow a different fact pattern. School leaders should exercise caution and restraint in making abrupt changes to safety policies and practices based upon the fact pattern of one (or even several) low-probability/high-impact incidents. A school central office administrator responsible for district school safety recently […]
Communicating school safety to parents: Superintendents and principals need strategic support on what to say, how to say it, and when to say it
If we don’t better support superintendents and principals in becoming strategic school safety leaders and communicators, they will lose the trust and confidence of parents, students, staff, and their school communities. They might also lose their jobs. Yesteryear’s school safety communications spin no longer works During the first couple of decades of my school security […]