Creating a Safe Campus Takes a Village

The adage “it takes a village” aptly applies to creating safe and nurturing campuses, as developing and maintaining a safe school environment cannot fall solely on administrators or government agencies. The entire school community, including students and their families, should strive to be good safety stewards who serve as the foundational line of advocacy for safe campuses.

True campus safety advocacy extends beyond the big threat of mass violence. It should work holistically to prevent and reduce emotional, environmental, organizational, medical and social hazards campuses face on a daily basis. Having a trained, experienced and dedicated armed or unarmed safety and security professional to serve as a liaison between students, staff and external law enforcement can significantly improve campus protection.

Often, a dedicated campus safety professional assumes the role of a trusted advisor for students. For parents and the administration, they are the boots on the ground. Through their interactions and relationships with students, teachers, staff, parents and administrators, they see, hear, know and understand better than anyone what is happening on the campus. As a result, they are often the first to recognize a threat or have necessary first-hand knowledge that can facilitate a resolution before it evolves into a bigger crisis. 

While ideal, having a dedicated safety and security professional on campus consistently may not always be an option. As such, it is vital that communities work cohesively to create safe, nurturing campuses. Below are guidelines that will assist your community in creating better campus safety stewardship across all channels.
 

Administrators and Staff

• Develop and refine an evidenced-based model of Behavioral Threat and Risk Assessment to proactively identify areas of potential conflict

• Conduct regular tabletop exercises for the administration and staff

• Connect with county, state and national resources for free critical tools, info and services

• Consider developing and/or refining a campus climate survey to identify blinds spots in the perception of safety and security (physical and otherwise)

• Have an all-hazards approach and stay current with the government agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security and NFPA 3000, published guidelines and standards for security and crisis response

• Consult local emergency managers for school safety and emergency preparedness, planning, training and coordination

• Conduct and coordinate in-service exercises, drills and training, and initiate needed plan revisions based on drill evaluations

• Tailor drills, training and communication to fit the audience, remaining sensitive to anxiety and the ability to process information (for example, the drills and messaging for kindergartners should be different than that for middle or high school students or for teachers)

• Develop a communication response plan

• Champion incorporation of school safety, violence prevention and emergency preparedness into curriculum

Teachers

• Participate in the development and execution of school emergency plan exercises, drills and trainings

• Provide leadership for students during a crisis or emergency

• Be familiar with the psychological needs of children in the stress of an emergency situation

Students and Parents

• Cooperate during emergency drills and exercises

• Understand the importance of reporting situations of concern and hazards

• Take an active part in school emergency response

• Encourage and support school safety, violence prevention and emergency preparedness programs

• Practice emergency preparedness in the home to reinforce school training
   

Implementing these best practices serves to help everyone remain calm, understand their role and be prepared to act appropriately for potential crises while continuously facilitating safe and healthy learning environments.

  About the Author:
  Mahsa Karimi is the Manager of Education for Allied Universal. She has a tenured background in assisting educational institutions and school systems to improve their safety and security programs. She has specialized expertise aligning education sector safety and security policies with external law enforcement protocol and personnel. She holds a B.A. from the University of Texas and an MBA from Long Island University.