The Connecticut State’s Attorney final summary report on the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings for many is an underwhelming, anticlimactic account of an overwhelming tragedy. No earth-shattering new lessons, but repeated themes of past shootings Rather than revealing a stream of earth-shattering new lessons learned, the report sadly reiterates themes heard over and over again from school shootings of […]
Category Archive: Crisis – Emergency Planning for Schools
Sandy Hook school shooting report: New lessons or old lessons revisited?
A much anticipated report on the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings is due out Monday afternoon. The Connecticut State’s Attorney will present a summary report on the shooting, although the release of the full Connecticut State Police report continues to be delayed. The tactical response of Newtown Police and other first responders will likely receive a […]
School crisis lockdown plans when students are in restrooms
What do we do about students who are in the restroom when we announce a lockdown? This question is raised often during our school security assessment consulting and training presentations around the country. The issue has several variables schools must prepare for as they develop and refine their emergency guidelines. Don’t leave students stranded in restrooms […]
Three steps to improve school bomb threat management and response
Superintendents, principals, and their first responders can improve management of school bomb threats by taking action to avoid three common problems we find when assessing school emergency guidelines and actual incidences of bomb threats at schools: No written procedure or one developed without input from first responders. Preparing for bomb threats requires more than simply having a […]
Lockdown communications with parents during school emergencies
Few things scare a mother more than a lockdown or safety crisis at her child’s school. Fear makes calm, sensible people frantic and fierce. This is a tough time for schools. Their first priority is protecting children. A lockdown is serious business. School staffers are tied up assessing the threat, talking to police, making sure […]
School bomb threats: Are principals putting students at-risk?
School administrators appear to be evacuating and closing schools more often in response to bomb threats, but such actions are not always consistent with best practices for bomb threat response. Moving students away from the school and sending them home often meets the emotional security needs of some educators and parents. But doing so could […]
School safety lessons: A teacher survives an active shooter
Monday’s shooting at Sparks Middle School in Nevada ended with the tragic death of a math teacher and the student/shooter, and the injury of two other students. The teacher, Michael Landberry, a Marine and National Guard member who served multiple tours in Afghanistan, reportedly intervened in an effort to get the shooter to put down […]