Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS): MSD Wayne Township
Tight school budgets and decreasing school safety grants are making school emergency planning more challenging today. The Metropolitan School District (MSD) of Wayne Township in Indianapolis, Indiana, has a solid record of being a leader of Indiana school corporations in school emergency/crisis planning. Under the leadership of Dr. Terry Thompson, Superintendent, and a proactive school board, […]
Is Your School Safety Information Tainted by Product Vendors?
As education budgets tighten and the overall economy remains uncertain, the draw to the almighty dollar increases. Now, more than ever, “buyer beware” needs to be the mantra of consumers of school safety information, services, and products. The line between professional, best practice school safety information and product vendor-influenced information appears to be getting more and […]
How to Make Schools Safer During Tight Budget Times
Tight budgets are no excuse for failing to be proactive with school safety. Parents will forgive educators if their school’s test scores go down. Parents will be much less forgiving if their children are hurt in an incident which could have been prevented or better managed. Attorneys and the media will be equally unforgiving. So […]
Why School Safety Initiatives Fail
New York Times writer, Crystal Yednak, and I spoke at length for her article published this past Sunday entitled, “Seeking to Assure Students’ Safety Outside School.” The article highlights stimulus-funded efforts in Chicago to create safer streets for students walking to and from school following a shocking number of kids killed and injured in recent […]
Who Will Bail Out School Safety?
Education budget cuts are in the headlines every day: Teachers being laid off in mass numbers. Local levy and bond issues failing left and right. Major cuts from school operating budgets. Buried deeper in these stories are the cuts to school safety. As of July, if things move forward as planned, the state grant component […]
$10,000 Goes a Long Way – Except in DC
Only inside the D.C. Beltway do some folks believe that $10,000 doesn’t do much for anything. The U.S. Department of Education, the Administration, and some in Congress over the past few years have justified cutting and eliminating the state grant component of the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program by saying that too many school districts receiving funds […]
Is School Safety Really a Priority to Your School Board, Superintendent, and Community?
Why is school safety always the first on the chopping block by school boards and superintendents when schools cut budgets? Do they really care about school safety? It has been my experience that school board members, superintendents, and others in education are very caring people. They care about kids. And they care about their […]
Is School Safety at the Education Funding Cliff? Part Two
Yesterday’s “Education Funding Cliff” post focused on school safety as one of the top areas typically hit by school district budget cuts. Today, let’s take a look at what schools can and cannot afford to do with school safety during tight financial times. School Safety Budget Cut “Do” and “Do Not” Tips There will be […]
Is School Safety at the Education Funding Cliff? Part One
Sunday’s New York Times story entitled, “With Federal Stimulus Money Gone, Many Schools Face Budget Gaps,” looks at the budget gaps expected to be created when the federal stimulus education money has been spent by local districts. Educators refer to it as approaching the “funding cliff.” The Times story references new studies showing many states will spend most, […]