A Parent’s Guide to Opening a School Safety Dialogue

By PASS Advisory Council Member and Parent Kevin Wren, School Safety Advocate, The Cook & Boardman Group, LLC

The devastating impact of school shootings has left parents feeling helpless and anxious and forced us to confront the urgent need for improved safety measures. While school safety and security professionals are working tirelessly to protect our children, we as parents must also play a crucial role. By actively participating in safety discussions and ensuring accountability from our school officials and each other, we can significantly influence school culture, mitigation strategies, and threat assessment protocols. While we may feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the issue, we must remember that even small steps can make a significant difference. 

Here are some discussion points to consider. They’re designed to open a dialogue, not to accuse or intimidate. I also invite you to read the PASS Safety and Security Guidelines for K-12 Schools from the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS), a consortium of experts from the education, public safety, and industry communities who develop and promote effective security practices for K-12 schools.

Talk to the right person.

Reach out to your school board president as well as your district’s representative. School principals generally do not have the budget or the ability to mandate standards across the district when it comes to the level of security and safety guidelines we are talking about, but as a citizen, the school board – the body you elected to represent your interests – is the only one that works directly for you.

Ask the right questions.

What is our district’s comprehensive security management plan? 

School districts approve millions of dollars to fund security tools and technology: metal detectors, video surveillance, lock boxes, alarms, visitor management systems, etc. And oftentimes, these systems are siloed without a fully integrated process or procedure. If a board member cites separate technologies, ask again about the holistic security management plan, and offer your support if one needs to be created. They may not share complete details, nor be able to share a document, due to safety protocol, but they should be able to share the general plan and funding capabilities to implement. A holistic plan is imperative to create goals, objectives, funding, and system priorities, as funding is often limited. Districts should prioritize cost-effective solutions with the greatest potential impact, such as training, rather than opting for more complex technologies that may not deliver comparable benefits.

Does the district have a threat assessment team?

Behavioral Threat Management (BTM), a basic component of a security plan, is a systematic process used to identify, assess, and manage individuals who pose a potential threat of violence or harm. It’s a multidisciplinary approach that includes professionals from various fields, such as education, law enforcement, mental health, and social services.

For example, if a student makes threatening online posts, and law enforcement is notified but does not have enough evidence for an arrest, what should they do? Police are limited in their ability to respond to situations where a crime hasn’t been committed, and the individual doesn’t qualify for involuntary mental health evaluation. With a Behavioral Threat Management protocol, this type of threat would trigger an assessment by an appropriate team to evaluate the threat and determine a best course of action.

Can you tell me about the required safety and security training for teachers and staff?  How does the school board ensure that all employees meet these training standards?

Some school board members may point you to local law enforcement who conduct active shooter training. However, it’s important to remember that police cannot be solely responsible for a school’s comprehensive safety protocols. Active shooter training is only a small piece of a holistic safety and security program that addresses multiple facets of the school safety climate, including blood-borne pathogens, sexual harrassment, child abuse, bullying, suicide awareness, and first aid/CPR/AED. How is the board following up to make sure everyone has taken the training?  Was anyone absent? Have the grounds crew and substitute teachers been trained? How is the board  tracking compliance?

Have you sought input from the community in developing safety and security plans?

If the school board does have a plan, the next question is: Who was involved in creating it? It’s important to approach this with a collaborative spirit, focusing on solutions rather than criticism. What are we doing well? Where can we improve? Security planning teams should include key stakeholders in the K-12 environment, including the district security director, school administrators, security/systems integrators and/or consultants, IT director, and school-based health care professionals. These teams should also comprise  the community, including local police, fire officials, students, and parents. See page 18 of the PASS Guidelines for more information on formulating a security management plan.

What kind of regular (quarterly/semester) reports can you provide the community?

A report might include how many trainings are offered and how many are compliant. What metrics are used to measure the effectiveness of the threat management program? How many threats have been identified, and what were the outcomes? Who is managing the weapon screening checks, and what are the results? What’s the schedule for lockdown and other emergency drills, and what are lessons learned for improvement? How are blood-borne pathogens being handled? The goal is not to criticize but to work together to understand the current situation and measure our progress. This is an opportunity for the community to support the effort and help establish key performance indicators, similar to how we receive reports on math and literacy scores.

The future of our children hinges on our collective action. As parents, we must unite and assist our school boards in making student safety a top priority by holding everyone (including ourselves as parents) accountable to the plan. Let’s show our school boards that we’re committed to creating a secure and nurturing learning environment and that we’re ready to work together for positive change. If an event were to take place at your child’s school, would you know in your heart that you did everything you could to help? 

For more information on supporting a comprehensive security management plan as a parent, please visit the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools website.

About PASS

The Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) bringing together expertise from the education, public safety, and industry communities to develop and support a coordinated approach to making effective and appropriate decisions with respect to safety and security investments. You can download the complete PASS Guidelines here, or check out our PASS Safety and Security Checklist for quick tips on how to get started.  These resources—as well as white papers on various topics including barricade devices, lockdown drills, and more—are available at no cost.