Education Week - February 7, 2024 - 19

How to Strengthen the Safety
And Security of Your School
By Lindsay Burton & Michelle Kefford
T
he deadly shootings in Perry, Iowa, last
month and in Lewiston, Maine, in October
drive home the grim reality that gun
violence can infiltrate any corner of our
society. For those of us entrusted with
the safety of our students, these tragedies
underscore the urgent need to reinforce
and rethink our schools' protective measures. To assist
students and educators confronting this reality, we want to
offer resources to ensure that students nationwide can pursue
their studies and school activities in safe, welcoming, and
supportive environments.
According to a survey by the National Association of
Secondary School Principals, only 53 percent of students
in grades 8-12 say their school is " extremely " or " very "
safe, with both school leaders and students citing ongoing
concerns around such potential threats as online and inperson
bullying, drug use, gun violence, and more.
As leaders who engage with and serve as a resource for
school administrators and personnel on important school
safety matters and their impact on school environments, we
recognize and understand this concern firsthand. To help
connect our nation's dedicated school leaders with helpful
resources, guidance, and evidence-based best practices that
can meaningfully strengthen the safety and security of their
school this year and beyond, we offer the following guidance:
Plan for emergencies early and often and listen
to all voices in your school community.
Although incidents like school shootings are rare, it is
important to plan and prepare for a crisis. School leaders,
including principals and assistant principals, play a critical
role in emergency planning. In addition to managing school
operations, school leaders provide essential services and
supports, which can improve overall preparedness, while
also serving as trusted sources for members of the school
community to speak with and confidentially report potential
concerns.
During the development and subsequent updates of
safety processes, it is important for school leaders to create
intentional spaces for both students and staff to have their
voices heard. One initiative developed at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School to foster opportunities for student
engagement is " Kefford's Kitchen " (as in co-author and
Principal Michelle Kefford), where students can join her
for lunch. During this conversation, students can make
suggestions and ask questions (even anonymously at another
time) across a range of topics that are top of mind for them.
Similarly, " Mid-Week Muffins with Michelle " is open to
staff so they can offer their opinions and feedback to school
administrators to help refine safety planning.
Throughout the year, school leaders can take a proactive
approach to emergency planning and help ensure the
entire school community is as prepared as possible for
potential incidents. Consider carving out time to review
your emergency-operations plans (EOP) and practicing key
elements. Practice may include holding tabletop exercises
to test specific procedures or conducting developmentally
appropriate drills so all members of the school community
can run through the actions they would take before, during,
and after an emergency. It is critical that schools collaborate
with their community partners-local emergencymanagement
staff, law enforcement and other first
responders, and public and mental health officials-during
the school safety planning process and throughout the year.
These partners can provide school leaders with essential
expertise and guidance to ensure that the school EOP is
integrated with community efforts.
An equally important but sometimes overlooked element
of emergency planning is to map out how your school will
recover if an incident does occur, along with the actions
the school will take to support the academic, physical,
fiscal, and emotional recovery of the education community.
Created by current and former school leaders who have
experienced gun-violence tragedies at their schools, the
Guide to Recovery from the NASSP Principal Recovery
Network identifies some of the issues schools commonly
face when recuperating from a traumatic event. These
include identifying financial resources available to assist
with recovery, connecting the community with mental
health personnel, responding to offers of assistance from
the community, supporting the reopening of a school, and
attending to the ongoing needs of students and staff.
Keep track of relevant school safety resources
and evidence-based best practices.
Although there are extensive resources available that
address school safety, it can sometimes be overwhelming to
find and easily leverage this information in a well-organized
and meaningful way. Schools have individual needs and
unique characteristics that require thoughtful consideration
and reflection. To help provide schools with direct access to
relevant, timely, and useful school safety information that
can help before, during, and after a potential emergency, the
federal government created SchoolSafety.gov. Through this
site, school leaders can utilize tools to prioritize school safety
actions, find applicable resources on a range of important
school safety topics, find expertise and connect with school
safety officials specific to their state, and develop school safety
plans that meet unique school needs. The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security created the Prevention Resource Finder
to help the full range of education stakeholders identify
resources, training, research, grant funding, and other
opportunities.
Provide leaders with access to grants and funding
opportunities to financially support school safety
efforts.
Because schools and districts often require additional
funding to support and implement various school safety
measures and initiatives, it's important to remember that the
process to locate and secure necessary funding oftentimes
requires year-round attention and effort. To help schools
more easily identify, plan for, and apply for applicable funding
opportunities that can help keep their school communities
safe, SchoolSafety.gov provides a comprehensive Grants
Finder Tool featuring federally available school safety grants.
While it can't solve the entire grants-management process,
the tool can help school leaders navigate at least part of the
financial pathway.
If a tragedy occurs at a school, no matter where it is
located, we all feel the impact and want to do everything we
can to prevent it from happening again. Creating a safe and
supportive school environment is a common goal shared by
everyone in the community-our children, educators, and
dedicated school staff deserve it. In preparation for the worstcase
scenario, take some time to think through your school's
current approach to school safety. By sharing these resources
and recommended practices, we hope to help school
leaders feel ready and empowered to address school safety
throughout the year.
BURTON is the associate director of school safety for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity
and Infrastructure Security Agency. KEFFORD has served
students in Florida for the past 24 years and is currently the
principal of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. She is
a member of the National Association of Secondary School
Principals Principal Recovery Network.
The United States government, including the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), does not endorse any non-federal
entity (NFE), commercial product, process, or service. Any
reference to specific NFEs, commercial products, processes,
or services by name, service mark, trademark, manufacturer
or otherwise, does not constitute or imply the endorsement,
recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. government, CISA, or
DHS. CISA does not attest to or guarantee the accuracy of any
non-federal websites or the information they contain. Reference
to any specific commercial product, practice, process, or service,
or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the
information and convenience of the public and is intended to
educate the public on relevant topics in this field.
EDUCATION WEEK | February 7, 2024 | www.edweek.org/opinion | 19
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Education Week - February 7, 2024

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