Forming School Safety Plans
Much time and effort is put into forming school lesson plans and organizing a classroom. According to a report published in 2007 by FEMA, many schools are overlooking efforts that should be put into forming school safety plans. While most schools are adequately prepared in the event of fire or weather emergencies, few would be able to response in a cohesive method should terrorist, gang or weapons related violence break out during the school day.
Forming school safety plans is a task that should be in constant motion. As more information and utilities of monitoring are available to schools it is expected that the safety of a school can constantly be upgraded. Schools should look at previous year activities and problems within the system to brainstorm ideas for forming school safety plans that meet their needs. Training and extended learning should also be provided to teachers so that staff members can feel assured they are prepared should an emergency strike their school.
Additionally, looking into school terrorism, gang issues where relevant and forming post crisis safety planning are instrumental in helping school systems overcome problems in their schools. Both FEMA and the National School Security and Safetym offer thorough and comprehensive exercises, training, ideas, and structures for school safety plans. They can be modified completely to meet the needs of each student body and are inclusive of every safety breech that could possibly hit a school system. Additionally, forming school safety plans should include a media kit so that staff and students are prepared for the media attention that always aftermaths problems at schools.
Forming school safety plans is definitely the responsibility of school councils, administrators, and superintendents. Most states require schools to form school safety plans that meet requirements at the state level. These safety plans should be readily available for staff and parents to inspect and should be updated every school year.
When forming a school safety plan, schools must take into account many things including the records of violence from previous years and criminal activity in the specific locale. Federal threats against national security, weather, as well as environmental hazards should also be considered. Many school systems consider emergency response when it is too late and suffer the consequences of not having a fully encompassing school safety plan in place prior to an incident occurring. Studying what other school systems have done and reviewing their school safety plan can help your school form one that is at the top of the list in regard to national standards.
Forming school safety plans takes the cooperation from many different people. Not only should ALL the staff at the school system be involved, but also taking care to contact appropriate local offices and safety personnel is critical. School systems should include as a major part of their school safety plan the communication techniques to law enforcement should a safety situation arise. Considering that often communications are cut or unavailable, schools should utilize school resource officers on campus with radio capabilities so that quick response times can be experienced should a situation arise. Knowing your schools safety plan and pushing measures to forming a school safety plan takes both staff, students and parents working together to make sure that the academic environment remains secure.
More Information on School Safety Plans
- National Institute for School and Workplace Safety
- National School Safety and Security Services School
- Resources for School Safety
- Safety Plan PLUS