Cherie Reed, a cafeteria staff member at Chardon High School, comforted students and may have saved lives thanks to her quick thinking and action as shooter T.J. Lane fired gunshots, killing three students and wounding two others in the school’s cafeteria on Feb. 27 in Chardon, Ohio. Reed and student Travis Carter, a 16-year-old junior, […]
Blog Archives
After-school girls fight presents challenges to school safety
An after-school fight involving girls from a New Jersey high school ended with one student suffering from a knife wound and school officials in a defensive mode, according to a news story on the Bayonne High School incident. The school’s principal reportedly was surprised by the incident, saying there was no prior history of problems […]
California school shooting suspect: Warning signs or not?
The founder of the California Christian university where a shooter killed seven people and wounded three others says the shooting suspect had not shown any signs of violence, according to an Associated Press story on the school shooting published on Saturday. But the same article also said, “Numerous administrators have said Goh grew angry during […]
Beware of school safety analysts’ double-talk, mixed messages
School shootings are down, they are nothing new and they are not that common. But please fund my research proposal on school shootings, pay me thousands of dollars to teach you my model for assessing threats of shootings and hire my fellow consultant for a few thousand bucks to show you how many dozen guns he can conceal […]
Lawyers, media talk school safety even when educators don’t
School officials may be talking less about school safety today, but lawyers and the media certainly are not silent on the topic. Many school security directors, school police chiefs and school safety consultants will tell you (at least privately) that getting school boards, administrators and staff to consistently focus proactively on school safety is increasingly […]
Chardon High School shooting CNN interview shows media focus on school safety
Media and parent questions about school safety following a school shooting make up what we often refer to as “the post-crisis crisis” for educators, law enforcement officials and their community partners. School and safety leaders can expect to be asked tough, pointed questions about safety, security and emergency preparedness procedures in their schools. Gone are […]
Feds: Virginia street gang ran high school prostitution ring
Five alleged members of a Fairfax, Virginia-based offshoot of the Crips street gang ran a prostitution ring that recruited at least 10 high school girls, according to federal prosecutors and the FBI. Law enforcement officials said some girls participated voluntarily while others were threatened, beaten or cut with a knife when they tried to quit […]
Tornado, hijacking show value of school bus driver safety training
The response of school bus drivers to a tornado in Henryville, Indiana, and to a school bus hijacking in Henry County, Georgia, reinforce the importance of training school transportation staff on safety, security and crisis / emergency preparedness procedures. On March 2nd in Indiana, school bus drivers for the West Clark Community Schools reacted quickly […]
Chardon High School shooting analysis reveals safety challenges, what works
Social media, reporting threats, drills, how schools can find out in advance about threats, and where we fall short in school safety were topics I discussed during an in-studio interview at the Cleveland ABC-affiliate on the evening of the nearby Chardon High School shooting. Are your schools prepared to prevent and manage a school shooting? Ken Trump Visit School Security […]
‘Most wanted’ fugitive joins an elementary school field trip
Try explaining to parents why a convicted drug offender with a warrant was able to chaperone his daughter’s class on an elementary school field trip. “It appears that there was a miscommunication in the building today. The parent was not cleared to chaperone,” the Seattle School District said in a statement according to a December msnbc.com article […]