SCH OOL S A F ETY A ND S EC U R IT Y
Keeping our Schools Safe: Becoming Proactive and Preventive By Jolene Palmer, Nebraska Department of Education School Safety & Security Director The number one priority of every school is keeping students safe at school. The focus on proactive and preventive strategies has the most evidence of accomplishing this goal. Here are four strategies to increase the proactive and prevention in your schools. 1. Threat Assessment In almost every school shooting there have been multiple warning signs displayed by the killer. They were either missed or ignored. Threat Assessment helps to identify and inform school officials about those warning signs. Threat Assessment also helps identify individuals exhibiting concerning behavior who need support to turn around their impending actions. Threat Assessment training is offered multiple times in the year. The next scheduled training is at the end of June and again in early September. Registration for training can be completed at esupdo.org (workshop calendar). Training is at no-cost to schools who plan to participate in Safe2HelpNE. PALMER
2. Safe2HelpNE Report Line - In 81.9% of the incidents, someone had knowledge of the pending attack. We need a place for people to anonymously make reports about what they know or what they heard. The Nebraska Legislature has provided the opportunity for all schools (public and nonpublic) in Nebraska to participate in Safe2HelpNE at no cost to further proactive approaches to school shootings and other concerning behaviors. Here is current evidence of the effectiveness of Safe2HelpNE: a. Over 1,300 reports have been received since Jan. 7, 2020. b. Bullying and suicide are the most reported concerning behaviors. c. To date, 59 alleged school attacks have been reported. We know of six school attacks that have been thwarted. Schools are not required to report outcomes so there could have been more attacks thwarted and we are unaware.
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NCSA TODAY SUMMER 2022
d. There have been 41 reports of weapons on school property. e. Child abusers have been arrested. The more schools participating in Safe2HelpNE will build a strong picture of the importance of having a report line providing districts information for their threat assessment teams to identify concerning behavior. Currently the report line serves approximately 40% of the students in the state. The data above is clear Safe2HelpNE is making a difference in keeping students safe at school. The number of students being served should be 100% if the safety of students at school is truly a priority. 3. Scan and monitor social media in real time – In almost every incident, the killer has posted information on at least one social media platform. Schools are encouraged to have someone responsible scan and monitor the chatter and posts related to their school throughtout the day. NDE has provided specialized training for schools to do this and plans to provide the training again at the School Safety Summit in October. 4. Updating of the Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) which designates actions the school will take for prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery on any hazard, threat or incident possible in a school. Inside the EOP are critical sections to keep students and staff safe at school, identifying roles and responsibilities, the strategies the school will use each day to prevent an incident (including threat assessment), a strategy for immediate response using the Standard Response Protocol should a school need to take action in a situation, how to respond and steps to recovery using a strategy such as Psychological First Aid. To date, approximately 240 districts (public and nonpublic) have attended training and are working on updating their EOP. Every public school district is mandated by Federal and State Law to have an EOP. Four simple strategies to further being proactive and preventive will help keep your school safer for students and staff. When we prevent the unthinkable, we save time, money, effort, and major heartache. The cost of the unthinkable is unimaginable. Please consider thinking and imagining what life can be using proactive and preventive strategies. ■
