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 […]
Category Archive: School Safety Issues
Top 10 school safety headlines for 2012
Here are the top 10 school safety news headlines we could see, or probably should see, in 2012 based upon my assessment of school safety trends: 10. Educators discover paying for reasonable security measures at school athletic events is more important than turning a profit at the gate. 9. School districts cave to common sense by […]
Why adequate supervision is critical to good school safety
A female is allegedly raped in a gym restroom. A student is assaulted in a hallway during class change. A stranger is found in an elementary school restroom. The first question raised by parents, the media and perhaps eventually lawyers is: “Was supervision adequate?” The answer to that question must be assessed on a case-by-case […]
What Christmas 2011 and school safety have in common
What does school safety have in common with The Muppets, Pac Man, Space Invaders, Rock’em Sock’em Robots, and other Christmas 2011 sightings? Simple: What is old is new again. I was intrigued upon seeing the return of The Muppets in their latest movie. Then came the plug-and-play Pac Man, Space Invaders, and other first generation video games Christmas presents. Next, […]
It’s Time to Rejuvenate School Safety, Security & Preparedness
Overloaded. Burned out. Unemployed. Distracted. Disjointed. Stressed. These are just a few words describing what I see and hear more and more every day. I find them among school staff, parents, neighbors, family, and about everywhere else life takes me each week. Uncertain Times Breed Stress and Anxiety We live in a time of economic uncertainty, political […]
School Safety Book Tackles Columbine Anniversary Challenges
What have we learned and what is the state of school security and emergency planning 12 years after the Columbine High School attack in 1999? The answer is simple: We need to return to a focus on the fundamentals. A new generation of school board members, superintendents, central office administrators, school safety specialists, principals, teachers, […]
Should Police & Schools Keep Parents in Dark on Sex Assault?
How would you feel if a stranger abducted and sexually assaulted a female during lunchtime and in the same block as your daughter’s school? And how would you feel if your school administrators and police officials never told you, other parents, and students about the incident for 12 days? This happened near David Douglas High […]
When Did Common Sense End in School Discipline and Safety?
Training students not to open exterior school doors to let someone inside is a best practice. Suspending a student who violated the rule to help a woman with her hands full is not a best practice. A Southampton County, Virginia, middle school student was suspended from school after opening a door for a woman with […]