Today’s headlines on this week’s school shooting from The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, reads: “Signs and warnings failed to prevent Freeman school shooting.” Given observations over recent years, it would not be surprising if a future headline reads: “Lawsuit filed on school shooting claims warning signs were missed.” A wrongful death suit against former Chardon, […]
School sexual assault litigation: Security expert witness consultant says school rape, sex assaults are turning into lawsuits
As a school security expert witness and litigation consultant on school safety lawsuits, there are some weeks where I receive more inquiries for services from attorneys than I do from superintendents and other school leaders. Suffice to say that a number of parents today are taking their allegations and grievances about school safety from the […]
How President Trump can “Make federal school safety policy great again”: Advice from Ken Trump to President Donald Trump
President Donald J. Trump takes office today as the 45th President of the United States. As he and his nominated Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, begin working to “Make America Great Again,” they also have the opportunity to “Make Federal School Safety Policy Great Again.” Obama, Congress eliminated critical school safety programs prior to the […]
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 […]
School safety preparation tips for back-to-school
Back-to-school means it is time for curriculum and scheduling tweaks, faculty meetings, parent communications and many other academic preparations. It also is time to review school security, emergency preparedness, supervision and other school safety fundamentals that should be included in your district and/or building safety to-do lists at the start of each year. A few […]
Tabletop exercises strengthen school security and emergency preparedness for a crisis
Security and emergency preparedness has been at the forefront as our hometown Cleveland prepares to host next week’s Republican National Convention, just on the heels of an impromptu 1.3 million fan downtown celebration of our NBA Champion Cavaliers basketball victory. The tragic attacks on Dallas police officers last week only heightened our local conversations about […]
Students choking at school: A different type of school safety concern
Recently I received a telephone call from an attorney representing a family who had lost a child due to a choking incident at school. These calls always break my heart. And I say “calls” because this is the third such death of a child in which I have been asked to serve as an expert […]
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 […]