You need a plan. Whether it's an emergency response plan (ERP), disaster recovery plan (DRP) or a business continuity plan (BCP). Having a plan gives your stakeholders a clear outline of how to approach, assess, and respond to any situation that could possibly strike.

Everyone has some sort of New Year's resolution, even if we downplay it. Whether it's trying to eat more kale, watch personal finances more closely, or to actually get on that treadmill that's gathering dust in the basement, it has simply become part of our culture to think about what we want to improve to become better in the upcoming new year. New Year's resolutions often focus on what we know is challenging yet possible to achieve, so why shouldn’t schools focus on improving school safety for 2020?

"School safety" is a phrase that everyone can understand, but it often times means different things to different people, and many school districts don't always conceptualize or approach school safety in the same way. This is understandable since each district, and even every school, are influenced by the needs, challenges, and resources of their community. To better understand how schools from across the country think about school safety, we reached out to our clients to catch their thoughts.

School safety has been in the media spotlight in recent years due to the catastrophic incidents that have plagued the United States in the last decade. This graph from the K-12 School Shooting Database reinforces the sad reality that every school community must be prepared for any and all situations making us all ask the question, "What would you do during those vital few minutes before first responders arrive if there is an incident at your school?"

Imagine your school is about to release students for the day, and just a few blocks away, police officers are responding to an armed gunman. It's a scary situation that could lead to an emergency, and with your students about to leave the safety of your building, your most precious priority has become vulnerable.

Emergencies don't happen every day, but when a crisis does occur, the minutes, or even seconds, it takes to communicate can make all the differences for school safety. Communication is most effective when it's two-way, especially in an emergency. When school administrators and safety teams are alerted to a situation, getting information directly from those involved helps them make the right decisions and respond more quickly, which can lead to an increased likelihood of a positive outcome.

Take a second to think about all your safety resources and protocols you've implemented for school safety. What keeps your students and staff safe every day? Do you have a way to report and investigate threats to prevent emergencies before they happen?

In the 20 years since Columbine, there have been hundreds of school shootings, 140 dead, and 300 injured. Not to mention, the 220,000 students that have been directly affected by school shootings because they were in the buildings at the time these events took place. While thousands more are impacted by daily incidents like bullying, teasing, and kids just not being able to cope with their own emotions or anxiety.

School safety spending in the United States continues to climb. Since 2018, legislators in more than half the states have approved nearly $1 billion for school safety programs. Allocations range from personnel (School Resource Officers, Counselors, etc.) to training to technology and security measures. In the rush to do 'something' to improve the safety of students and schools, there is little consistency from district to district—or state to state—in terms of what measures take priority.

It's back-to-school time, and hopefully you've checked all the boxes for getting your staff, classrooms, and students ready for the upcoming school year. But in all of the back-to-school rush, you may have forgotten about your to-do list for safety.