As a veteran educator, I find the lack of systemic change regarding school safety surprising. I have followed every story of school violence since I started teaching in the mid-nineties. Since 2010, I have worked as a program director at a university that develops school principals. To gather more information on how school safety systems are or are not changing, I began asking the principal interns to complete a school safety audit on 18 specific areas in the school setting. I wanted each intern to start thinking critically about school safety and develop into a leader with the knowledge and skills to prevent and address safety problems. My principal interns come from all types of school settings: large, small, city, rural, private, and public. What I found was not shocking, but it was disappointing. People are genuinely concerned, but there has not been significant change in school safety systems. Why? I have yet to find the answers, but I do have some ideas based on the responses from these safety audits.
Inadequate National and State Standards
I am required by the state to develop a principal certification program aligned to the state standards and the national standards for school leaders. These standards focus on vision and improvement, ethics, equity, teaching and learning, community relations, management, and building relationships. There is no specific standard that places school safety at the forefront. The standards focus on vision and improvement, ethics, equity, teaching and learning, community relations, management, and building relationships. Given the recent upsurge of school violence, I am shocked and irritated that the standards fail to address this urgent problem, which only seems to be escalating. Therefore, I weave school safety into the program from the beginning, concluding with a final project.
Inconsistent Policies and Procedures
The safety audit assesses emergency plans, policy, safety drills, building access, identification, visitors, training, physical climate, communication, exteriors, busing and parking, playground, deliveries, interiors, cafeteria, gymnasium, specialized areas, and monitoring and surveillance. I found no consistencies across school safety plans, even among schools in the same district. There were discrepancies in preparation, planning, communication, policies, and procedures. For example, 31 schools have plans to address bomb threats or fights, but 24 schools do not. Some schools had suicide prevention plans, while other had only response teams, which I believe are insufficient.
Many plans were not communicated well. Most interns did not know what safety procedures to follow or who would be in charge of specific issues. Noting that teachers, counselors, school psychologists, directors, deans, and others make up the principal intern cohorts, I was surprised at their lack of information. For schools to be safe, people need to take a deeper look at the both the policies and procedures in place. Do the right policies exist? Should policies be adjusted or changed? Does everyone follow the same procedures? Do all individuals in each building understand the procedures? Is there a partnership with law enforcement and other support services? Don't assume everyone is on the same page or understands what to do.
Make Safety Standard
While I was disturbed by the results of the audits, this information provides opportunity for change. National and state leader preparation standards need to address school safety and school violence, school leadership programs need to make safety part of the training for new leaders, and school districts need to address both policies and procedures.
Educating principal certification candidates in the areas of school safety and violence will remain a top priority in my work. I hope others see the same concerns and come together to make change. A safe environment allows students to flourish personally, socially, and academically.
