Brought to FEN by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Assessing School Security

The safety of your students and staff members might very well depend upon your ability to evaluate, plan, and implement a comprehensive school safety program. As many school administrators struggle to learn about drug trafficking trends, gang identification, stranger danger, and the prevention of aggressive and violent behavior, even newer challenges have arrived at the schoolhouse doorway. Along with the "traditional" security threats, recent shifts in school violence are driving administrators in even the safest of schools and communities to realize that "it could happen here." And staff members, students, parents, politicians, lawyers, and the media want to know what you, as a school administrator, have done to prevent these things from happening.

The sad reality is that nobody can offer a 100 percent guarantee that a violent or serious security-related incident will not occur in their school. But you can and should be prepared to identify specific steps you have taken to reduce the risks of such an incident and to prepare for managing a crisis should one occur. One of the first and most often overlooked steps in this process is assessing the security of your school.

More progressive administrators are now recognizing the need to take risk-reduction measures. Most steps taken to prevent school violence have historically focused on prevention-oriented measures like violence-prevention curriculum, or intervention-oriented approaches like conflict resolution. While these strategies are very important steps in a comprehensive safety plan, too little effort has been focused on implementing balanced, rational security measures geared to the safety of the immediate environment.

The three major reasons for conducting school security assessments include to:

• Prevent and, if necessary, to prepare for effectively managing violence
• Reduce risks and liability
• Improve public relations by communicating your commitment to school safety prior to a crisis.

Cost of school safety programs is often a concern, but it is important to realize that good security does not always require additional manpower and equipment. School security is much more encompassing than these components alone. When dollars are an issue, we must also examine the cost of doing nothing. Increased lawsuit and insurance claim losses due to inadequate security are the two most obvious costs. But difficulties in teacher recruitment, low staff retention, and lower student test scores top the list of the hidden costs associated with operating unsafe schools. Surveys increasingly identify security as a major concern of students, parents, and staff. And the buck stops at the school administrator's door in terms of leading the fight to create a secure environment.