Teachers find that cell phones create classroom distractions. School administrators find they accelerate bullying and conflicts. However, many students — and some very vocal parents — often feel they are essential to school safety. But are the cell phones an emotional security blanket for parents even more than a security tool for students? Some now […]
Category Archive: Crisis Communications
Superintendents, principals and other school leaders share a common struggle: How to communicate with parents about school safety. The good news is we can help them to communicate better.
“I don’t know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it.” Those were the words of a school principal at the beginning of my doctoral program at Johns Hopkins. The topic with which he was struggling: Speaking with parents about school safety. This school administrator was not alone in his struggle […]
Are security vendors setting up school leaders to fail? When superintendents and principals overpromise on school security, they lose their school community’s trust and confidence on school safety.
School leaders turning to physical security measures such as metal detectors, AI weapons detection systems, panic buttons or badges, and other trendy measures should exercise caution not to overpromise school security to parents, teachers, and students. Superintendents and principals should avoid parroting vendor marketing claims and overpromising security Some security hardware, product, and tech vendors […]
International war and terrorism considerations for U.S. school security, emergency preparedness, and student support services
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 […]
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 […]
Balancing school board meeting security and school administrator safety with parental engagement and First Amendment rights
A growing number of parents are frustrated and angry, in particular over school COVID-19 mask policies and hot topics such as discussions around “critical race theory” and school curriculum. Political dynamics from the federal level down to local school communities are exacerbating these tensions in some school communities. What used to be routine, mundane school […]
New Webinar! COVID-19: Communicating effectively with school stakeholders in highly ambiguous and uncertain times
Wednesday, May 20, 2020 – 1pm Eastern New Webinar! Register Now – Space is limited for this one-hour program Register Here COVID-19 SCHOOL REENTRY COMMUNICATIONS: This free webinar is designed for PreK-12 superintendents, assistant superintendents, heads of private schools, principals and assistant principals, school communications and community relations administrators, school-based police and security administrators, school board […]
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and School Safety: Keep calm, have a plan, reduce risks, and communicate
Also see Ken Trump’s Blog: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and K-12 schools: The time to prepare for student reentry is NOW! Learn more here about our COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Student and Educator Reentry Planning and Preparedness (SERPP) Services. An Oregon Coronavirus patient was identified this weekend as an elementary school employee. In Rhode Island, two members of a Catholic […]
Creepy Clown threats strike schools nationwide
A wave of “Creepy Clown” threats targeting schools across the nation has intensified in recent weeks, creating fear and anxiety in school communities. The threats have included shooting students and teachers. Creepy Clown threats sweep schools nationwide The clown threat makers have been unmasked rather quickly in a number of cases. In Ohio, three sixth […]
Online group “Evacuation Squad” with ties to Russia and Iran claims responsibility for worldwide wave of school bomb threats
An online group named “Evacuation Squad” is claiming responsibility for a wave of worldwide school bomb threats, according to the digital media website Mashable and news outlets in the United Kingdom and Australia. Mashable says that Evacuation Squad is made up of six international members and listed a Russian email address on its social media […]