Creating a safe haven for the students at your school is a major Board concern, and making sure all the protocols and policies for school safety are in place is a must.
With this in mind, consider the report, Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2018, recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The indicators in this report are based on information drawn from various data sources, including national surveys of students, teachers, and principals. This report covers topics such as victimization, bullying, weapons on campus, and student perceptions of personal safety at school.
The report also provides new data on youth opioid use and active shooter incidents in educational settings. Although the report focuses on public schools, the information is worthy of reflection for private school Board members and administrators.
Overall, crime has declined over the past two decades at schools and colleges. For example, the percentage of 8th graders who reported using heroin during the past year dropped from 1.4% in 1995 to 0.3% in 2017. The percentage also decreased for 10th graders, from 1.1% to 0.2%, and from 1.1% to 0.4% for 12th graders.
However, there are still concerns for school administrators.
- In 2017, approximately 16% of students in grades 9–12 reported that they had carried a weapon at least one day during the previous 30 days, and 4% did so on school property.
- Students aged 12–18 experienced 827,000 victimizations (theft and nonfatal violent episodes) at school.
- From 2000 to 2017, there were 37 active shooter incidents at elementary and secondary schools.
- In 2017, 9% of students in grades 9–12 reported that they had been in a physical fight on school property (down from 13% in 2001).
- In 2017, about 20% of students aged 12–18 reported being bullied at school.
On the positive side, 99% of the students aged 12–18 said that they witnessed the use of safety and security measures at their schools in 2017. Those most often observed were:
- A written code of student conduct (95%).
- A requirement that visitors sign in and wear visitor badges or some other form of identification (90%).
- The presence of school staff members or other adults supervising in school hallways (88%).
Scrutinize your schools safety and security measures. Do you have the appropriate policies in place? Have all potential security issues on your campus been addressed? Have your teachers and staff members been trained to handle any criminal or violent actions on your school property?
Risk management assessment and planning can do much to prevent potential crime and safety issues at your school.
Additional ISM Resources:
The Source for Business and Operations Vol. 17 No. 1 Creating a Safe School Environment
Additional ISM resources for members:
I&P Vol. 41 No. 4 Risk Management Assessment: Reduce Your School’s Exposure
I&P Vol. 41 No. 5 The Risk Management Assessment Process
