Safety and security in schools is a broad topic area that can include preparing for, managing, and responding to a wide range of threats and hazards, including:
- Natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, landslides, fires), and
- Building and technological hazards (e.g., the release of hazardous materials or structural threats and damage, cyber risk), and
- Biological threats (e.g., infectious diseases or contaminated food), and
- Human-caused crises (e.g., active shooters, harassment and bullying, and gang violence).
Training
Training prepares school personnel and safety officers for specific types of potential threats and hazards.
Many of the preparedness and response activities a school district may undertake to address multiple types of potential threats.
For example, training school personnel on how to digitize their school safety plan, create safe physical and digital learning environments, use technology to improve safety, use emergency equipment that help them to respond to multiple types of emergencies, and more. Harassment and bullying, gang violence, substance use, and mental health-related issues are important factors in school safety training program. The training includes activities that are meant to prepare for, manage, or respond to all the above types of threats.
Training for school personnel and public safety officers – and school safety plan management, equipment, technology, and capital, a as it relates to emergency preparedness, management, and response on school campuses. This includes the following:
- Training for security personnel, such as school resource and security officers
- Training for school staff on emergency response, equipment, technology
- Emergency preparedness measures including safety or emergency plans and drills
- Security equipment including, but not limited to, door locks, surveillance cameras, intercoms, and telecommunication systems between schools and local law enforcement agencies
- Facility retrofits or improvements of physical and digital learning environments, to ensure student and staff safety.
- Capital training identifies some grant programs, at the federal/state/local level, that provide allowable uses of funds for both these types of programs and school safety-specific items, such as security equipment and technology. These multiple-use grants are included in our funding resource.