Staff should also be trained to watch for potentially dangerous outsiders (e.g., persons walking onto campus without a visible visitor’s pass or loitering around the perimeters of school; occupied vehicles parked alongside campus for unusually long periods of time; unsecured gates or breezeways around campus that can provide unnoticed access to campus, etc.)
Collaborate With Local Law Enforcement
Schools should, and under some state laws, must, consult with a representative of law enforcement in the writing and development of the comprehensive school plan. They might also consider calling their local police department and asking a seasoned officer to do a “walk around” their campus to assess potential weaknesses. An officer can review a campus and its safety plan, notifying administrators of potential weaknesses in school safety. These vulnerabilities could include unlocked gates, poorly monitored breezeways, the lack of code words or alarms to alert staff throughout the campus when something is amiss or that classrooms should be secured. Law enforcement can also point out individuals in the community with arrest records, such as the nice woman you see every afternoon across the street who is actually a convicted drug dealer. Local law enforcement is an excellent resource.
Restrict Visitor Access to School Premises
Every school experiences the same scenario: The school has a sign-in procedure in the front office before an outsider can enter campus with a visitor pass. The hurried parent waltzes onto campus because they do not want to be bothered with the sign-in procedure. The school’s front desk atten
dant runs after the parent, who says, “I’ll just be a second, I have to give my kid his lunch.”
School staff must be empowered. Administrators control the campus, not the parents who try to take liberties; not the expelled student who wants to hang out with friends; not the drug dealer hanging around the fringes of campus; and not the former employee who wants to visit.
First, there are many laws that empower campus staff to restrict entry onto campus and make it a crime to enter without authorization from school personnel. Every state maintains laws pertaining to trespass and loitering on school grounds. School employees and administrators have the right to enforce those laws.
Second, staff must be aware of these laws. Teachers should know that they have a right to turn the parent away from the classroom door until the parent has followed sign-in procedures. A custodian should ask the stranger walking on campus to show his or her visitor pass. The principal is not overreacting by calling police about the suspicious man in the van who has been parked in front of the school for two hours. These individuals are the first line defense for a school.
Third, schools must have procedures in place if someone without authorization enters campus and does not comply with staff’s request to leave or to use the school’s procedures for campus access. Staff should not put themselves in harm’s way of an altercation. However, there should be a system in place to deal with a disruptive individual. It may be an alarm that is sounded, letting teachers know to keep children in classrooms and monitor doors until the alarm is cleared. There can be code words that, when communicated by staff on two-way radios, alert them to notify police and lockdown the campus. There are many ways to protect students and staff.
We are all in this together. The district, the school, students, staff, administrators, parents/guardians, law enforcement, the community — everyone is a resource and a tool for preventing school violence. Together we can make the schools safe.
Share Information With Teachers About Dangerous Students
- The types of offenses teachers should be notified of include, but are not limited to:
- Causing, attempting to cause or making threats of physical injury
- Unlawful possession of a firearm, knife, explosive or other dangerous object
- Possession of controlled substances (unlawfully), alcohol or drug paraphernalia
- Actual or attempted robbery or extortion
- Causing or attempting to cause damage to school property
- Material disruption of school activities
- Actual or attempted sexual assault
- Hazing or bullying
- Sexual harassment
- Hate violence
8 Best Practices for Dealing with Threats/Suspicious Activity
- Campus personnel should not hesitate or be embarrassed to call local police about something suspicious
- They shouldn’t be afraid to stop and ask an outsider to follow school policies for accessing campus, such as signing-in and obtaining a visitor’s pass
- School staff should never take a threat lightly
- All threats should be investigated
- A record of any threat should be kept
- Schools should discipline a student when warranted
- Campuses should provide intervention strategies and resources to address motivation and reasoning behind any threat, including mental health resources, school resource officers and community crisis-intervention organizations
- Schools should involve parents, teachers, administrators and co-workers in addressing the threat
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