Benchmarks the current status of public school district safety. The survey of 400 school district IT and security directors evaluates and assesses cyber and physical security, examines the impact of cyber and physical security education and communication, and investigates the proliferation of security breaches. 27p.

Assists families in performing an on-site inspection of a potential school. The guide presents descriptions of favorable situations and questions that should be considered while visiting the campus. These questions address the accessibility and safety of the campus, as well as the design of classrooms, availability of technology, the dining environment, the recreation areas, and the design and condition of restrooms and furnishings. 16p.

This NCEF publication describes a process for assessing the safety and security of school buildings and grounds, making a hazard mitigation plan, and implementing the plan. Steps include: select an assessment tool; assemble an assessment team; look at the record; perform the assessment; write up the results; create a standing committee on hazard mitigation; prepare a hazard mitigation plan; understand risk; weigh passive vs. active safety; select security technology with care; improve school climate; calculate costs, locate funding; seek input; coordinate hazard mitigation with crisis planning; start small, think big; justify thoroughly; meet regularly, advocate continually; and benefit mutually. 4p.

The 25 guides found on the lower portion of this web page assist in the school safety assessment process. Each downloadable guide addresses a specific area or space within the school, presenting a series of "yes-no" questions that assess the safety and security of physical features typical for that area. 67p.

Presents the results of safety assessments of Idaho schools, conducted by online surveys, site visits, focus groups, community forums, and a crisis response drill. The data revealed that eighteen percent of district superintendents rate the general safety and security profile of their district as "fully adequate." Of the remaining 82%, 49% rated their district "mixed some schools fine and some need improvements," and 33% selected the response "inadequate many or most schools need better security equipment and/or improvements to security procedures and training." In most cases, this sense of inadequate security is due to a broad range of issues, including: lack of resources and prioritization for safety and security, lack of security equipment and technology, school facility and layout issues, ineffective policies and procedures, and a lack of knowledge as to what to do or how to effectively prioritize limited resources. A positive finding uncovered was school personnel and communities are generally highly supportive of understanding and addressing security needs and making improvements. 60p.

Advises educators community members on the relationship between school safety and school facilities. The guide offers a definition and history of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), a series of questions and answers to assist in planning CPTED, an overview of current security technolgy, and a safety audit and security survey that can be used as is or adapted for the location. 22 references are included. 69p.

Reports on the positive and negative security aspects of the seven facilities in Connecticut's Madison Public Schools. Security assessment results for each school are provided, as are the scope and methodology of the assessment. In the interest of security, the summary of findings, observations and recommendations, and school administrator checklists are not available in this report. Eleven references are included. 22p.

Advocates hazard vulnerability assessments (HVAs) as essential elements of school emergency management planning. Schools can utilize HVA's to identify potential hazards and to prioritize prevention and mitigation efforts in cases of emergency. HVAs are typically conducted by risk assessment teams that include school personnel and representatives from the local emergency management community. A list of 22 resources is included. 7p.

Benchmarks the current status of public school district safety. Based on 14 elements of physical and cyber safety, the survey of 381 school district IT and security directors illustrates the indicators of strong district safety programs, as well as the barriers to school safety. 30p.

Outlines points to consider when purchasing secrutiy services and equipment. These include checking company background, their experience within the educational community, their personnel qualifications, their attention to recruiting and training, warranties, actual reliability and durability of products, and total cost of ownership. 2p.

Checklist for determining safety on campus in the areas of residence hall security, visitors, security patrols in residence halls, roommate conflicts, health services, campus security, and parental notification. 2p.

Offers a checklist for school safety that covers policies, proceders, constituent training, communication systems, facility attributes, traffic and transportation services, and crisis management response. 5p.

A checklist that combines the nation's best school facility assessment measures into one online source for assessing the safety and security of school buildings and grounds. It includes over 400 measures covering school surroundings, school grounds, buildings and facilities, communications systems, building access control and surveillance, utility systems, mechanical systems, and emergency power. The checklist is updated frequently and may be used for planning and designing new facilities or assessing existing ones.

Offers a manual and 82 self-inspection checklists covering environmental, health and safety regulations for secondary occupational and career orientation programs in New Jersey public schools. The Manual is updated twice each year to reflect changes in regulations.

Provides a checklist to assess school access safety. The document lists 40 building features and procedures involving school access, giving the user the opportunity to rate them "not at all,""partial," or "effective." 5p.

Presents a checklist to assess the security of a school building and its grounds. Sections cover areas of the school interiors, lighting, doors, signage, play areas, parking, access control, landscaping, and the respective roles of staff, law enforcement, students, parents and community. 9p.

Prompts school design teams to consider equipment, fixtures and design features that are conducive to a safe learning environment and a higher level of emergency preparedness by stimulating discussion of safety design features during the design phase. The recommended make-up of the team is followed by checklists for recommended safety equipment, emergency equipment, and building design features. 5p.

Presents tabulated statewide results of the School Access Safety Audit questionnaire (http://www.wvs.state.wv.us/wvsba/safety%20audit.pdf), with 55 West Virginia counties accounted for. The questionnaire rates 40 building features and procedures involving school access with either a "not at all,""partial," or "effective" score. 22p.

Assists safety audit teams with their work, being a toolkit written for personnel who will be conducting the audit, and including a campus safety and security audit tool. A variety of survey, interview, and assessment instruments are included at the site. The school safety audit checklist addresses safety and security of the site and building exterior, access control, the safety and security of the building interior, the type and extent of monitoring and surveillance, communication and information security, development of emergency operations plans, and school climate and culture (including development and enforcement of policies). 32p.

Asssists school threat assessment teams, through the use of two hypothetical school- based scenarios, with advancing their skills in conducting a virtual threat assessment inquiry. The interactive format integrates study findings, threat assessment processes, and implications for prevention. In addition, it contains research findings, full interviews with study authors and practitioners, and links to more resources.

Offers a workbook to identify and assess hazards to school property and occupants in order to develop a more thorough emergency response plan. 22p.

Many States mandate that career-technical schools and institutions have safety and health programs in place, conduct hazard analyses for each career-technical program, do safety inspections and maintenance, and comply with safety and health and environmental regulations. This Safety Checklist Program provides information needed by schools to maintain safe classrooms, shops, and labs for teachers and students in career-technical education, and includes the following: Chapter 1: Making Sense of Regulations gives background information concerning the regulatory agencies and regulations that are applicable to career-technical education; Chapter 2: How to Establish an Effective Occupational Safety and Health and Environmental Safety Program outlines ways to ensure that an effective program is instituted and maintained; Chapter 3: Implementing a Safety Checklist Program describes how to implement a checklist program in your school to identify hazards and determine regulatory compliance; Chapter 4: Safety Checklists contains the checklists. Appendices are provided as references for additional information or help.

This is a free online "webinar" for planning K-12 school security. The program helps the user to identify areas of risk, prioritize which potential threats to protect against, reduce incidents by using new technologies, define the roles and responsibilities of personnel for safety and security, and measure return on investment with statistical reporting and accountability methods.

Advises on school safety and security, covering threat assessment, school climate, violence prevention programs, building safety assessment, crisis response plans, law enforcement response, security technology, communication during an emergency, trends in student violence, and lessons learned from incidents at schools in Minnesota 54p.

The term school vandalism refers to willful or malicious damage to school grounds and buildings or furnishings and equipment. This guide describes the problem and reviews the risk factors of school vandalism and break-ins. It also reviews the associated problems of school burglaries and arson. The guide then identifies a series of questions to help law enforcement analyze their local problem. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem, and what is known about them from evaluative research and police practice. Includes recommendations for making changes to the physical environment. 80p.

Offers a school safety checklist that addresses, in 512 questions, 24 types of school spaces and systems, the grounds, athletic facilities, and athletic equipment. 20p.

Advises on preventive strategies for school security. Facilities issues covered include assessment of buildings and grounds, safe storage and handling of hazardous materials, disaster management. Numerous checklists, forms, and additional resources are provided. 88p.

This British toolkit is an easy-to-use template for security risk assessment in schools. The practical guide helps one understand the reasons that crimes and incidents occur in a school site or building. It provides information on how to tackle these problems through design or management of the premises. The guide provides a step-by-step approach on how to: 1)Gather crime data; 2) Identify vulnerabilities by walking the site; 3) Model surveillance: identify areas that are overseen or well-used and areas that are hidden from view; 4) Assess which risks are most immediate; 5) Develop long and short term strategies to address the problems; 6) Implement the strategies. Includes case studies of a primary school and a secondary school.

Written for design professionals, this book provides detailed information on site security design elements and their relationship and integration into the overall design of a site. Guidelines for conducting security/risk assessments and for working with clients and security consultants are also included. Case studies offer a variety of site designs that successfully incorporate features.

SMART is a multi-hazard vulnerability assessment for schools to use in analyzing their current safety and security level of preparedness. Each assessment module focuses on one hazard with specific questions matched to resources that may help your school better understand and learn more about a particular safety or security concern. Free registration is required.

This report is the result of a COPS-sponsored project led by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Community Policing Institute to take an in-depth look at current activities and future needs in the field of campus safety. By identifying notable successes in campus safety and security and how they may be replicated, campus police agencies, local law enforcement, and national organizations can plan courses of action, short-term and long-term, for advancing safety and security on the nation's college and university campuses. 84p.

Since June 1999, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Secret Service have been working as a team to better understand--and ultimately help prevent--school shootings in America. Findings indicated that incidents of targeted violence in school were rarely impulsive; that the students who perpetrated attacks usually planned them out in advance with planning behavior that was often observable; and that, prior to most attacks, other children knew that the attack was to occur. This document uses these findings to create a process for identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence in schools. Eight chapters include: (1) "Introduction: Threat Assessment and the Prevention of Targeted School Violence"; (2) "Creating Climates of School Safety: A Foundation for Reducing School Violence"; (3) "Key Findings of the Safe School Initiative's Study of Targeted School Violence"; (4) "Implementing a School Threat Assessment Process"; (5) "Conducting a School Threat Assessment"; (6) "Managing a Threatening Situation"; (7) "Action Plans for School Leaders: Creating a Safe and Connected School Climate and Implementing a Threat Assessment Program"; and (8) "Conclusion: Threat Assessment as a Decision-Making Tool". An appendix contains a list of annotated resources. (Contains 24 references and 2 resource websites.) 60p.

Provides design guidance for the protection of school buildings and their occupants against natural hazards, concentrating on K-12 facilities. The focus is on the design of new schools, but the repair, renovation and extension of existing schools, as well as the economic losses and social disruption caused by damage from these three hazards is also addressed. Two core concepts emphasized are multihazard design, where the characteristics of hazards and how they interract are considered together with all other design demands, and performance-based design, where the specific concerns of building owners and occupants a considered over and above what is covered in the building code. Chapters 1-3 present issues common to all hazards. Chapters 4-6 cover risk management for each of the three specific hazards of the title. 361p.

Collects the contributions of several authors to provide architects and other design professionals with guidance in security planning for both new and existing facilities. Basic design concepts are emphasized and readers are provided with information to help conduct an assessment of client needs as well as work with consultants who specialize in implementing security measures. Included are chapters on defining security needs, understanding threats, blast mitigation, building systems, facility operations, and biochemical protection, along with guidelines for conducting client security assessments. A best practices section shows how security can be integrated into design solutions. Includes a list of organizations, 21 references, and a glossary. 240p.

This primer provides guidance to protect students, faculty, staff, and their school buildings from terrorist attacks. It also provides guidance to the building science community of architects and engineers working for local institutions on school projects. This document is intended for use by schools who feel that they are at risk to terrorist attacks. It provides necessary guidance to those who desire to increase the performance of their school and related infrastructure. Not all schools are at risk of terrorist attacks. The decision-makers in each school district should use current and available threat information from the proper sources to make this determination. The use of experts to apply the methodologies contained in this document is encouraged. This primer references several sources for additional information, including publications completed by other government agencies. Chapters include: 1) Asset Value, Threat/Hazard, Vulnerability, and Risk; 2) Site and Layout Design Guidance; 3) Building Design Guidance and Safety Plans; 4) Explosive Blast; 5) Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Measures; and 6) Safe Rooms Within Schools. 306p.

This provides individuals responsible for school safety and security with a comprehensive resource tool containing forms, checklists, policies and procedures, guidelines, and state-of-the-art security methods addressing the demands of school safety and security. 528p.

This guide is intended to support efforts by universities to reduce and manage their vulnerability to hazards. It includes a description of a disaster-resistant university; how to perform a risk assessment; developing interest and support; developing a loss reduction plan; maintaining interest; and additional information. This is both a how-to guide and a distillation of the experiences of six universities and colleges that have been working to become more disaster-resistant 55p.

As part of multi-hazard emergency planning for schools, these guidelines are intended to assist in a hazard identification and risk analysis process. Includes the following sections: 1) preparing for hazard identification; school grounds hazard assessment; 3) building hazard assessment; 4) classroom hazard assessment; 5) identifying potential hazards along evacuation routes; and 6) identifying potential hazards in the neighborhood and community. 8p.

This guidebook covers 18 safety areas and defines the mandatory health and safety standards applicable to schools. The guidebook is used in conjunction with a safe school inspection conducted by a safety officer and the site administrator. The areas covered include: acoustical quality, air quality, asbestos management, campus security, chemical safety, electrical safety, facilities maintenance, fire/life safety, infectious disease control, lead management, pest management, sports and playground, and waste management. 56p.

Outlines school security audit procedures, their benefits, who should conduct them, when they should be conducted, and how to implement recommendations from the audit. Includes eight references. 2p.

Presents a method to quickly identify, inventory, and rank buildings posing risk of death, injury, or severe curtailment in use following an earthquake. The procedure can be used by trained personnel to identify potentially hazardous buildings with a 15- to 30-minute exterior inspection, using a data collection form included in the handbook. A significant difference in this second edition is the need for a higher level of technical engineering expertise on the part of the users. The structural scoring system has been revised, based on new information, and the handbook has been shortened and focused to make it easier to use. 164p.

Assists schools with creating, reviewing, or updating individually tailored emergency management plans. It is presented in three main sections: preparedness, response, and recovery, and offers a method for creating an emergency management plan to meet specific local needs. The guide can be customized with the name of the school and offers numerous checklists, handouts, and a glossary. 156p.

The 1997 Virginia General Assembly passed legislation directing school boards to require all schools to conduct safety audits. This audit is designed to assess the safety conditions in each public school to: (1) identify and, if necessary, develop solutions for physical safety concerns, including building security issues; and (2) identify and evaluate any patterns of student safety concerns occurring on school property or at school-sponsored events. The legislation also directed the superintendent of public instruction to develop a list of items to be reviewed and evaluated in the school safety audits. As a result, the Department of Education developed this school safety audit protocol to be used as a guide for the audit. The guide addresses components of the audit process, the audit protocol, the audit procedure, audit forms (buildings and grounds, development and enforcement of policies, data collection, prevention and intervention programs, staff development, student involvement, parent and community involvement, role of law enforcement, crisis management plan, standards for security personnel, Americans with Disabilities Act, and emergency response plan), and audit interviews. 74p.

Data collecting forms are provided for conducting a public school safety assessment screening inventory for the school's physical, social, and cultural environment. Data sheets assess traffic control, surveillance, access control, safety devices and equipment, and safety provisions and planning. Directions for using the assessment forms are included. 22p.

Provides guidance to help plant and facilities managers conduct inspections and evaluations of their facilities in order to pinpoint and solve problems in the areas of maintenance, safety, energy efficiency, and environmental compliance. Describes how to develop cost-effective corrective action strategies. 294p.

This digest presents ways that school administrators can realistically assess their schools' security needs. Checklist surveys that involve parents, students, law-enforcement personnel, community representatives, and school staff are important measures, and a security assessment performed by an independent consultant holds several advantages. Discusses how facilities can be made to be more secure. 3p.

Offers a checklist with explanations for school safety policies and procedures, emergency preparedness plans, building and grounds assessment, and safety transportation needs. A list of 59 references, additional resources, and websites is included. 31p.

Provides checklists to enable a person of moderate training to make an accurate estimation of the structural, mechanical, and safety condition of a school buildings. The lists are divided into sections for exterior, interior, mechanical systems, and safety/building code considerations. Direct examples of the ratings to be entered on the building condition evaluations are provided, as is a means for indicating the nature of the condition, if the rating is lower than "good." 56p.

Discusses techniques for improving school security, including card access control, security assessments, and weapons control. Human observation is particularly emphasized.

Advises on assessing the viability of existing campus security systems by considering whether or not they are functioning properly, as well as their age, serviceability, and expandability.

Advises on funding school security, the components of a school safety assessment, emergency training for staff, and creation of a school emergency management plan.

Discusses the advantages of architect participation in school safety audits, largely to enhance awareness of school architects as to how schools are used.

Describes Western Australia's school security program, including assessment, types of facility mitigation, and the typical reduction in incidence and cost of crimes realized through the program.

Describes this institution's response to a shooting by visiting teenagers, including effective communications and a review of campus safety measures. Additional crowd control for events, as well improved security cameras, lighting, and signage were suggested by the review.

Advises on analyzing operations, evaluating facilities, staff training, and community outreach in the light of creating safer schools.

Discusses techniques to prevent school shootings, including policy changes, visual screenings, metal detection, trained dogs, and armed officers.

Outlines organization for effective campus security, listing the components of a thorough safety assessment, describing typical security challenges according to type of facility, and advice on how to build staff support and teamwork for a security program.

Emphasizes the importance of a risk and vulnerability assessment before dramatic and expensive campus security measures are put in place. Four types of assessment tools are outlined, accompanied by advice on hiring consultants and how to write a plan that covers prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Discusses the sequence of a school safety assessment, with the steps organized under four chronological task areas: policy analysis, critical infrastructure and asset identification, critical infrastructure continuity and contingency planning, physical infrastructure protection, and technologies evaluation. Advice on selecting an objective security consultant is included.

Discusses the steps of a campus risk assessment, beginning with determination of assets to be protected and the types of threats that the school may encounter. From that information, the institutution should: 1) Investigate the annual frequency expectancy (AFE) for each threat. 2) Determine what type of loss occurs with each asset. 3) Determine vulnerabilities. 4) Determine existing safeguards. Current compliance with existing codes, policies, and procedures should be determined by survey. All information gathered should be used to determine annual and single loss expectancies and acceptability of the various risks uncovered.

Outlines concepts for reducing weapons violations and assaults including strict policies with diligent enforcement, screening of employees and proactive mental health services.

Describes efforts by two school districts to address the potential threats of shootings and other school disruptions: Baltimore City Public Schools in Maryland and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools in North Carolina. Also describes the growing costs of providing safety and security in elementary and secondary schools. (Contains 13 references.)

Describes a program involving the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY) in which a private contractor provides annual loss-prevention surveys and detailed safety reports for buildings at every CUNY campus. Discusses why the program has worked and its benefits.

Describes the various components of an effective campus security program, including the master plan/needs assessment, law enforcement staffing, security technology, access control, closed circuit television systems, and emergency planning.

Discusses school security program assessment and strategies that try to strike a balance between security equipment and staffing needs. Also explored are where security equipment can save school districts money, access control strategies, the physical elements that often compromise security, and school security personnel hiring criteria.

Explores the issues involved in conducting effective safety audits for educational facilities. Areas covered include auditing for site characteristics, access control, lighting, building exterior, door types and locking mechanisms, key control, alarm system controls, security monitors, and vision panels in the doors.

Provides information from experts in the security industry concerning school violence and its prevention. Articles address the lessons learned from recent school shootings that may help reduce future occurrences, the need for a greater adherence to order in schools to set the stage for a more secure learning environment, the use of identification badges, and ways of conducting a school facility security audit. It explains how to determine which technology is most important for school security and how to evaluate them, the development of a crisis management plan, and the preplanning steps that helped one community deal quietly with a rash of bomb threats.

Prevention/intervention approaches such as violence-prevention curricula and conflict resolution are insufficient security measures. Three reasons for conducting school-security assessments are to prevent violence or prepare to manage it effectively, reduce risks and liability, and improve public relations by communicating commitment to school safety. Guidelines are provided.

Explains that school safety requires planning that includes everyone in the school assessing all safety issues, such as incidents of violence to students, teachers, and administration; vandalism; and building hazards. Also recommended is development of an inclusive safety plan based on survey results from staff and students. Specific items to include in a safety plan are listed.

CSHEMA is dedicated to assisting the membership in advancing safety, health and environmental quality in higher education; it is the definitive resource on best practices for this area of planning. Includes an extensive list of resources on campus safety.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presents the second version of its free software tool that helps school districts evaluate and manage their school facilities for key environmental, safety, and health issues. HealthySEAT is designed to be customized and used by district-level staff to conduct voluntary self-assessments of their school facilities and to track and manage information on environmental conditions school by school. EPA has also included critical elements of all of its regulatory and voluntary programs for schools, as well as web links to more detailed information. Enhancements for Version 2 include user-defined custom checklists, custom notification letters, additional and updated reports and forms, new navigation improvements, e-mail functionality, changes in terminology, and additional documentation.

Founded in 1977 by a group of school security directors, the National Alliance for Safe Schools was established to provide training, technical assistance, and publications to school districts interested in reducing school based crime and violence.

A national clearinghouse for school safety program information funded by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, and housed at Pepperdine University.

PASS is a cooperative effort among approximately 20 federal agencies and other organizations to coordinate resources involved in creating disaster-resistant, safe school environments. Each of the participants contributes tools -- resources, expertise, and technical assistance. This Web site includes a PASS toolkit, and information on FEMA Project Impact Grants to Promote School Safety.

SAFE is eSchool News and the International Society for Technology in Education's information clearinghouse to help school leaders prepare for both physical and IT security threats and emergencies. The website aggregates plans and strategies for addressing a wide variety of possible emergencies, including bomb threats, earthquakes, shootings, gang activity, floods, hurricanes, pandemics, sexual predators, and more. Includes links to guidebooks, news, plans, and other resources from government entities, associations, organizations, schools, and universities.

This online self-assessment survey allows the participant to receive instant results and see how their school or district compares to national averages as compiled by the survey publisher. The survey assesses 12 elements of cyber security, and 9 elements of physical security, including building access; communication with local authorities, faculty, and parents; security education; physical breach occurrences; and physical barriers to security.

This website offers a checklist and links to information resources to help assess the health and safety of a school environment. Air quality, fire code compliance, policies on chemicals and hazardous waste, pest control, and chemical spraying of school grounds are considered.

Contains a wealth of helpful information and links to other education programs and federal agencies.

NCEF's resource list of links, books, and journal articles on assessing flood- and wind-damaged schools.

NCEF's resource list of links, books, and journal articles on outsourcing school services such as school maintenance and custodial services, food service, and student transportation.

NCEF's resource list of links, books, and journal articles on assessing school and university buildings for construction and repair planning and facilities management purposes. Results of conditions assessments are also included.

NCEF's resource list of links, books, and journal articles on designing safer PK-12 schools, implementing security technologies, and crime prevention through environmental design.