Without a doubt, the most pressing issue in schools today is safety. It seems like a week can’t go by without hearing about a school shooting or someone talking about school safety fears. We know that earning occurs best in an inviting, safe, and orderly school setting. School leaders accept that their first responsibility is to foster such a climate, and the public continues to confirm that priority.

NASSP has compiled resources around various school safety issues to help school leaders provide a safe setting for everyone.

NASSP Position Statement on Safe Schools

Trending Topics

Student Profiling
As a result of the tragic shootings of recent years, many schools and communities have turned to student profiling in an effort to identify, at an early stage, those students who are most likely to initiate such violent acts. Profiling attempts to identify students likely to be violent based on traits, characteristics, and/or behavior…Learn more.

School Resource Officers and Law Enforcement in Schools
To highlight the positive contributions of school resource officers (SROs) and offer recommendations for ensuring they have the appropriate training and partnerships with school leaders to create a safe and supportive school for each adult and child. Learning is most effective when schools are safe and welcoming environments for all students and adults. Principals know…Learn more.

Safe Schools
To offer recommendations aimed at fostering schools as safe learning environments. Learning occurs best in an inviting, safe, and orderly school setting. Principals accept that their first responsibility is to foster such a climate, and the public continues to confirm that priority. Two areas that have received particular attention by school leaders, the media, and…Learn More.

What Principals Can Do to Ensure School Discipline Policies Promote Safe and Inclusive Learning Environments
Research shows that “principals are essential to improving student achievement and narrowing persistent achievement gaps between students in underserved communities and their economically advantaged peers.” In fact, one study asserts that “there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader.” Learn More.

Read This, Save Lives: Creating Safer Classrooms for LGBTQ+ Students
I was a curious student who spent my free periods talking to teachers, and I could find my way around the library blindfolded. But for most of my life, I absolutely dreaded going to school. Learn More.

Learning Modules

Safe and Healthy School Environments
In this module, explore how to develop effective school safety plans among staff and students. Take a 360-degree approach to student safety by investigating the multiple facets affecting student well-being and learning. Explore how school leaders can create a school environment that makes it safe to report potential threats and how policy recommendations related to crisis and trauma response may be implemented effectively in your school or district. You can find module resources here.

Articles


New Teachers and School Safety
As 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, it reminded teachers and administrators nationwide of the ever-present possibility of school violence entering their own school’s doors. While the “Indicators of School Crime and Safety” report from the National Center of Education Statistics shows school violence is down, including reduced student suicides…Read More.

School Safety Part II: Stakeholders Weigh In
For our September issue, we convened a roundtable of principals and administrators who had dealt with active shooters on their campuses and in their communities. In this issue, we sought the input of additional stakeholders who are actively involved in school safety. Our roundtable, held in June, included Carl Fetcko, Canonsburg Police Department school resource…Read More.

School Safety: A Principal Concern
At Pottsgrove Middle School, which sits alone on a hill outside the small town of Pottstown, PA, about an hour northwest of Philadelphia, students had settled into their routine on a bitterly cold December morning six years ago. Then, suddenly, some students started to pass out. By the time Principal William Ziegler was debriefing with…Read More.

7 Strategies to Enhance School Safety
Guest post by Bill Ziegler Without a doubt, the most pressing issue in schools today is safety. It seems like a week can’t go by without hearing about a school shooting or someone talking about school safety fears. The Washington Post recently reported a startling statistic that indicated more students have died in school shootings…Read More.

School Safety Advocacy from a Student’s Perspective
Following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, which claimed the lives of 17 students and educators, advocates around the country organized a national movement demanding change to better protect our schools and communities from gun violence. Leading that movement are student survivors of the shooting joined by thousands of young…Read More.

Advocating for School Safety
Less than two weeks ago, we watched in horror as one of the worst school shootings in American history unfolded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida—17 students and educators were killed and another 14 were wounded. Sadly, what should be a unique and isolated tragedy is just one more heartbreaking entry in…Read More.

Safe Schools: Are you Ready?
Many are concerned about the growing reports of school safety incidents. According to the Educator’s School Safety Network, U.S. schools experienced 745 bomb threats in the 2015–16 academic year. And since 2013, there have been 210 school shootings, as reported by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. This escalation of…Read More.