6 tools to support school safety efforts
As teachers and students return to school across the country, thoughts range from nervous excitement to worries about how to keep school buildings--and the people in them--secure. Last…
School Safety
SEL should be an easy sell for U.S. schools and districts
In light of tragic events that have put a spotlight on school safety issues, it’s more important than ever to understand the value of students’ social and emotional…
How Seminole County Public Schools keeps 66,000 students safe every day
Today, more so than ever, school administrators must be prepared for all types of emergencies, and to do this, they need help. Of course, you can’t be 100-percent…
Blackboard launches New Learning Experience platform
Blackboard has launched the K-12 New Learning Experience Platform for districts and schools. The platform brings together institutions, parents, teachers, and learners in an integrated approach that addresses…
Reducing school emergency response times with X-ray vision
Emerging radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can improve school communications and emergency response times by increasing teacher and student visibility during emergencies.
The latest innovation in bulletproof school gear
A Marion, Ohio, man has designed what he believes is a desk uniquely suited to protect students from intruders, the Huffington Post report.
Duncan: Hard to teach kids scared of being killed
Too many students worry more about being killed by a gun than learning in the classroom, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said on Jan. 17, as he cautioned that…
Share With 911: Empowering the school community to keep kids safe
Sharewith911 may just be the best solution I've seen for improving school safety, says Christopher Dawson for ZDNet Education.
Leaders eye school safety plans after Connecticut attack
The mass killing inside a Connecticut elementary school has educators across the country reviewing their school security measures, reassuring parents, and asking, "What if?"
School safety resources from the eSN archives
In the aftermath of the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Conn., that claimed the lives of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, school leaders are…
Superintendent blasts police for not notifying school officials about threat
L.A. Unified superintendent says school officials were never notified by law enforcement about the danger posed by a student accused of fatally stabbing his former girlfriend at a…
Don’t weep at urban violence; prevent it with better schools
I get deeply angry over each untimely death--because this violence does not have to happen, says Gary Marvin Davison, former researcher and writer for the 2004 and 2008…
Effort seeks to help schools prevent sex violence
Federal officials who want educators to better understand how to prevent and respond to sexual assaults will kick off a nationwide awareness campaign Monday outlining victims' rights and…
Districts install x-ray machines to boost school safety
More schools are turning to x-ray machines to strengthen and improve school security—a move that school safety experts say can improve physical safety as well as students’ and…
Survey reveals school leaders’ opinions on 21st-century skills
As school district leaders increasingly incorporate so-called 21st-century skills into their instructional strategies, many believe the federal government should support the development of new school assessment models that…
Reducing bullying and cyber bullying
As in many states, K-12 teachers in Massachusetts now have new responsibilities to respond to, report, and address bullying and cyber bullying. The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC)…
SROs: A great investment in campus safety
One of the best security measures any district can employ is a school resource officer (SRO)--a trained police officer assigned to a campus. If an emergency strikes, the…
Campus recovering after massacre
It’s been more than five years now since a 16-year-old student at Red Lake High School in Minnesota shot and killed his grandfather and the grandfather’s girlfriend. He…
Work with staff, parents, and students
Not long ago, the decision by a Northeastern school district to install security cameras in two high schools without any announcement to parents, faculty, staff or students stirred…
Think outside the box: Doing more with less, Part 2
In my last blog, I wrote about the massive budget deficits facing most school districts, making it vital that everyone learn to do more with less. Yet, at…
Think outside the box: Find ways to do more with less
Is it possible to maintain a strong security posture while spending no more or even less on security equipment and services? It is possible. But it will take…
Keep after-school events safe
The start of a new high school football season is a reason to celebrate–but it also is a time for ... Read more
More schools take security seriously
As we enter a new school year, I'm happy to see several districts spent the summer making investments in keeping their students, faculty and staff safer. One New…
Train and maintain
One of the more confusing stories I’ve read lately comes from East St. Louis, Ill., where burglars have taken more than $1 million in...
Copper thieves continue to strike
Schools are not immune. I recently wrote about an Oklahoma district hard hit by thieves taking or gutting…
We owe our students more
Once a student becomes a victim of a school crime, he or she becomes more aware of…
Great cooperation between school and law enforcement officials
School and law enforcement officials in Central Florida’s Volusia County are to be commended for their efforts to…
Mo. families grieve 2 slain in school buses wreck
What was supposed to have been a day of fun for a high school marching band turned into a day ... Read more
Handcuffs for first graders?
How far can a school go in disciplining students? Twenty states have laws permitting…
Schools: Protect yourselves
Here’s another story that leaves me shaking my head. A Midwestern school district has reported…
Don’t ‘pass the trash’
An investigation in 2008 by the state of Oregon found that 47 schools in the state had made a “pass the trash” deal over the previous five years.…
Safe passages
Chicago has had major problems with gangs attacking people throughout the city, including school kids going to and from school each day. I’m sure many of us remember…
Let cops carry the guns
One thing that still surprises me is the number of states willing to allow college and university students to carry concealed weapons on campus. More than 30 years…
What price on student safety?
One of the most important security measures any district can employ is a program in which…
Cameras up North
Although security cameras in schools raise staff and student privacy issues, they can be highly beneficial when it comes to...
Practice the plan
Recently police officers moved through a Florida middle school hunting for a gunman that had opened fire on campus. There was blood everywhere. Students were lying on the…
Lock the gates
It seems a first-grade student recently slipped away from a Massachusetts school with the intention of walking home. Apparently, none of the school staff noticed him leaving. Fortunately,…
Why does something always have to go wrong?
Moved by the disappearance of a 7-year-old boy in Portland, Ore., a mother of two in southwest Washington has started a petition to…
Peers judge peers
The idea behind zero tolerance for school violence is generally a good one. But some states and local districts have taken their policies a little bit too far...
Hotline goes 21st century
I applaud the state of Missouri for taking one of my favorite ideas for deterring campus crime and violence...