Many things we can do to make our schools safer require more time than money. 

Three ways to make your school safer today include:

1)  Ask students about safety at their school.  Where do they feel most safe? Least safe? Why? What would they do to make their schools more safe?

2)  Identify comfort levels and methods for reporting safety concerns.  Do students have at least one adult they feel comfortable in reporting safety concerns to at school? Are there other ways (hotlines, email tip lines, etc.) to report concerns? Are parents and staff comfortable in addressing safety concerns with school administrators?

3)  Find out if your school has a school crisis team, if there are updated school emergency guidelines, and if all staff have been trained in emergency preparedness.  Make sure your school’s crisis team meets regularly and crisis plans are updated, not just sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

Are you keeping the school safety conversation going at your school?

Ken Trump