Is your school prepared to deal with a crisis, whether it's a hurricane, an earthquake, an explosion at a nearby chemical facility, an active shooter, or one of many other possibilities? Does your school have an up-to-date plan to deal with hazards of all sorts? Do teachers and other staff members know what to do in emergency situations to protect their students and themselves from harm? In this informative and comprehensive guide, school safety experts Amy Klinger and Amanda Klinger offer significant—and sometimes surprising—statistics on school safety, dispel common misunderstandings, and provide preK–12 school leaders with the specific information they need to prepare for and effectively respond to natural disasters, accidents, or violent events. Readers will learn how and why it is important to Realistically assess threats and vulnerabilities. Create and implement an emergency operations plan that follows government guidelines and best practices. Decentralize authority and responsibility for crisis response. Distinguish between three levels of "lockdown." Plan for short- and long-term recovery following an incident. Make school safety an everyday component of school operations. At a time when schools at every level and in every community face the possibility of a crisis event, Keeping Students Safe Every Day equips leaders with the knowledge they need to give their students, staff members, parents, and the broader community confidence that their school knows what to do and makes safety a top priority.

This collection of nonpartisan and thoroughly researched reports focuses on sixteen hot-button policy issues written by award-winning CQ Researcher journalists. Because it is an annual volume and comes together just months before publication, each report is as current as possible. And because it is CQ Researcher, the policy reports are expertly researched and written, showing all sides of an issue. Chapters follow a set organization, exploring three issue questions, then offering background, the current situation, and a look ahead, as well as featuring a yes-no debate box. All issues include a chronology, bibliography, photos, charts, and figures.

This guide presents strategies and approaches for members of school communities to consider when creating safer learning environments. Violence prevention programs work best when they incorporate multiple strategies and address the full range of possible acts of violence in schools. Most of the interventions presented here have the potential to yield benefits beyond just reducing hazards associated with school shootings; lowering rates of delinquency, disruptive behaviors, harassment, bullying, suicide, etc.; increasing the likelihood troubled youth will be identified and receive treatment; improving the learning environment; preparing communities for responding to all human-made and natural disasters. Chapters: prevention; threat assessment; crisis planning and preparation; during a major crisis; after a crisis; legal considerations; working with the media; resources. This is a print on demand report.

The purpose of this document is to present different strategies and approaches for members of school communities to consider when creating safer learning environments. No two schools are exactly alike, so it is impossible to establish one plan that will work well in all schools. Violence prevention programs work best when they incorporate multiple strategies and address the full range of possible acts of violence in schools. For any set of policies to work, it must be established and implemented with the full participation and support of school board members, administrators, parents, students, community members, emergency response personnel, and law enforcement. Without such shared responsibility, the chances of safe school policies being successfully implemented and accepted are low. All involved in working to prevent or respond to school violence should be aware that no strategies in this or any other publication provide any guarantees against violence. Recognition of the rarity of school shootings and the complexity and unpredictability of human behavior should temper community initiatives as well as expectations. Most of the interventions presented in this document, however, have the potential to yield benefits beyond just reducing hazards associated with school shootings. Additional benefits include the following: Lowering rates of delinquency, disruptive behaviors, harassment, bullying, suicide, and all other forms of violence and antisocial behavior; Increasing the likelihood troubled youth will be identified and receive treatment; Improving the learning environment by reducing intimidating, disruptive, and disrespectful behavior; Preparing communities for responding to not only shootings at schools, but also all other human-made and natural disasters

Each school day, our nation's schools are entrusted to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for approximately 55 million elementary and secondary school students. Lessons learned from school emergencies highlight the importance of preparing school officials and first responders to implement emergency operations plans. By having plans in place to keep students and staff safe, schools play a key role in taking preventative and protective measures to stop an emergency from occurring or reduce the impact of an incident. Although schools are not traditional response organizations, when a school-based emergency occurs, school personnel respond immediately. They provide first aid, notify response partners, and provide instructions before first responders arrive. They also work with their community partners, i.e., governmental organizations that have a responsibility in the school emergency operations plan to provide a cohesive, coordinated response. Community partners include first responders (law enforcement officers, fire officials, and emergency medical services personnel) as well as public and mental health entities. Families and communities expect schools to keep their children and youths safe from threats (human-caused emergencies such as crime and violence) and hazards (natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and accidents). In collaboration with their local government and community partners, schools can take steps to plan for these potential emergencies through the creation of a school Emergency Operations Plan (school EOP). This book examines development guides for public schools and institutes of higher learning in emergency operations planning which address a range of threats and hazards.