Photo by Daniel Brubaker
New safety efforts in schools will be focused on prevention and school climate under a wave of federal grant money that is being awarded based on the recommendations earlier this month by the Federal Commission on School Safety.
The funding, which is based on the suggestions of the final report of the commission, provides about $71.6 million to prevent incidents and increase mental health resources.
It includes funding in the following four areas, according the U.S. Department of Education:
Some experts say the recommendations and funding indicates a shift away from “hardening” schools with armed guards and strict security measures and a move toward developing support for students who might be a security risk because of a traumatic event or a lack of resources and support at home.
It also signals a move to increase the number of school counselors, which has already been undertaken in some states which are trying to lower their counselor-to-student ratios. About $60 million has been provided in the Arizona school budget to hire more school counselors and school resource officers, and the new School Counseling Improvement Act in Arkansas requires schools to have a comprehensive counseling program and cut the administrative tasks of counselors.
Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, the director of government relations at the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), has reported that to support school safety efforts funding had potentially been available from the Every Child Succeeds Act through Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV, Part A)
While the funding is aimed at student’s support, one key element in any school safety effort should be the school safety plan, according to George Roberts, who is a community superintendent for Baltimore County Public Schools and speaks on school safety issues. Roberts was principal at Perry Hall, MD, High School when a student was shot by a classmate and a staff member was nearly wounded as he tried to intercede. The shooter was eventually subdued by a resource officer.
“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be prepared,” he says “You really can never fully prepare. It is never going to happen where or how or when you expect, but it is important to have comprehensive plans, and study and practice it. Then it becomes instinctual.”
Roberts suggests four basic plans are usually needed: handling a regular evacuation like the traditional fire drill, moving students further away from building or to an alternative location, establishing an “alert” status to keep students from leaving the school and announcing a lockdown with doors and windows closed and covered.
Written by Jim Paterson, Education World Contributing Writer
Jim Paterson is a writer, contributing to a variety of national publications, most recently specializing in education. During a break from writing for a period, he was the head of a school counseling department. (www.otherperplexity.com)
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