Uncertain. Challenging. Difficult. Trying. Uncharted.

These are all words we have heard in advertisements used to describe our current situation. "In these difficult times" should be the understatement of the decade…

As we continue to experience the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across the nation, many school administrators are starting to feel a sense of helplessness from the lack of control the government shut down orders have caused. One way to help combat the sense of helplessness is to take control over how your school is handling the COVID-19 pandemic by starting to prepare for your re-opening and recovery.

You might be asking why your school district should start planning for a return to normal operations now if the COVID-19 pandemic is far from being over. It seems a bit counter-intuitive at first glance, but it's actually critical that schools begin to plan for their pathway back to normalcy.

We are proud to host the following guest blog from Jeff Kaye, President School Safety Operations: 

If you've ever had the opportunity to visit the Columbine memorial, you probably saw the following quote: "It brought the nation to its knees, but now that we've gotten back up how have things changed; what have we've learned?"

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.