When was the last time you reviewed your district or school safety plan? Are you sure it addresses all of the current risks and threats to your students and community?
The sad reality is that ensuring students are safe and secure is much more complex than it used to be. To adequately protect their communities today, schools don’t just need to be physically safe, they need to provide a positive and supportive learning environment that helps all students feel safe and secure. That requires considering all of the potential threats and risks your students face, including the physical and digital, as well as the social, emotional, and behavioral.
“Programs that focus on school-wide or district-wide efforts to improve school climate and promote social and emotional learning can lower levels of victimization in school and increase feelings of safety for all students.”
Source: “Reimaging School Safety,” American Educator, Spring 2023
Safety experts recommend that you evaluate your safety plan at least once every year if not more frequently. If you’re not sure when you conducted your last review, consider this a sign that it’s time to schedule and prioritize this important to-do item. To make the task easier, here are some resources to help you evaluate your safety plan to make sure it’s as current and comprehensive as it needs to be.
Does Your School Safety Plan Address All Aspects of Providing a Safe and Supportive Learning Environment?
“A Framework for Safe and Successful Schools” is an evidence-based methodology for creating or evaluating your safety plan. The Framework is a joint effort between the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and others responsible for ensuring students are safe, supported, and ready to learn.
“Ensuring that mental health and safety programming and services are appropriately integrated into the overall multitiered system of supports is essential for successful and sustainable improvements in school safety and academic achievement.”
Source: The Framework for Safe and Successful Schools: Executive Summary
Providing a step-by-step set of activities, The Framework stresses the importance of taking a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to school safety that supports the whole child. This approach encourages districts and schools to develop safety plans that don’t simply address traditional safety threats, like physical safety and cybersecurity, but also create a positive school climate and promote learning.
8 Best Practices for Creating Safe & Successful Schools
The Framework provides the following set of best practices to guide districts and schools in providing a safe learning environment:
1) Fully integrate learning supports (e.g. behavioral, mental health, and social services), with instruction and school management
2) Implement multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) that encompass prevention, wellness promotion, and intensity-driven interventions, and promote school-community collaboration
3) Improve access to school-based mental health supports and integrate services provided through school–community partnerships
4) Embed ongoing positive climate and safety efforts into crisis prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery to ensure that crisis training and plans reinforce learning, make maximum use of existing staff resources, adequately assess threats, and are consistently reviewed and practiced
5) Balance physical and psychological safety to avoid overly restrictive measures and build trusting relationships
6) Employ positive discipline tactics that aren’t simply punitive, but reinforce positive behavior and support overall safety
7) Provide the services that are most needed, appropriate, and culturally sensitive to your population and community
8) Acknowledge that sustainable and effective change takes time
Does Your School Safety Plan Include School Climate Assessment?
SchoolSafety.gov, a collaborative initiative among the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Justice, is another helpful resource. It gives districts and schools actionable guidance to create a comprehensive school safety plan that encompasses 10 foundational elements.
The SchoolSafety.gov site echoes the importance of addressing social and emotional safety, as well as physical safety and cyber safety. It recommends that your school safety plan include the implementation of social, emotional, and behavioral support systems.
Districts and schools are also encouraged to include classroom practices that develop students’ character and resilience. Some of their suggested tactics include:
- Conducting school climate surveys that capture student voice
- Analyzing responses to make data-driven climate improvements
- Incorporating SEL into classroom practices
Implementing these practices has historically presented challenges. However, there are now edtech tools, such as Securly Rhithm, that make it easy to support the development of students’ resilience and social-emotional skills, as well as build the student data picture needed to make timely and meaningful improvements to school climate.
Your School Safety Plan Isn’t Complete Unless It Proactively and Holistically Addresses Student Wellness
It’s often said that the best defense is a good offense, and that’s especially true when it comes to student safety and wellness. That means your safety plan can’t stop at identifying the reactive measures to take, it must include proactive strategies as well.
Specific initiatives that proactively develop and holistically support your students’ wellness must be a part of your school safety plan if you’re committed to keeping your learning community safe and secure.
Use this seven-step framework to help develop your student wellness plan.
