Additional Resources on School Safety and Security

Links  |  Reports  |  Training Programs  |  Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines  |  Academic Journals

While NSA embraces the efforts to keep our kids and schools safe, we do not endorse the following products, links, references or opinions, but are merely listing for informational purposes to assist you in your efforts. 

Links

• National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO): NASRO, the world’s leader in school-based policing, is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 for school-based law enforcement officers, school administrators and school security and/or safety professionals who work as partners to protect schools and their students, faculty and staff members.
• Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC): The TxSSC serves as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of safety and security information through research, training, and technical assistance for K-12 schools and junior colleges throughout the state of Texas. In addition, the TxSSC also builds partnerships among youth, adults, schools, law enforcement officers, and community stakeholders to reduce the impact of tobacco on all Texans through prevention, training and enforcement initiatives.
• Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports: Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), the Technical Assistance Center on PBIS supports schools, districts, and states to build systems capacity for implementing a multi-tiered approach to social, emotional and behavior support. The broad purpose of PBIS is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of schools and other agencies. PBIS improves social, emotional and academic outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities and students from underrepresented groups.
• Teens & Young Adults: National Alliance on Mental Illness' infographics on student mental health.
• Help for Mental Illness: National Institute of Mental Health resources finding help for mental illnesses.

Reports

• What Makes Schools Safe?: The final report of the New Jersey School Boards Association’s School Security Task Force, is the culmination of a year’s work to inform the discussion of school safety and security. The report and its 45 recommendations should be viewed as a resource to help determine further federal, state and local action to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of our students.

Training Programs

• PreFense® for Schools empowers parents, faculty, and staff to facilitate sustainable school violence intervention at the lowest assessment threshold. Developed by national leading school safety experts, this informative program trains the participants to implement the National Sheriffs’ Association’s School Safety Resolution: recommended standard practices for the prevention and mitigation of school violence.
• Ohio School Threat Assessment Training: “Prevention is the missing piece after every attack,” Attorney General Dave Yost said. “And the safety of children across our state depends on us plugging that gap. To that end, Yost’s team created the Ohio School Threat Assessment Training, a combination of best practices from leading school-safety experts, including the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center. The Ohio guide helps schools team up with other community members, such as police officers and mental-health advocates, to prevent targeted violence and get help for troubled students.

  In the Ohio School Threat Assessment Training, which runs 10 chapters and about three hours, Ohio and national experts introduce the protocols that have worked for them. Each of the chapters, including the Introduction and Conclusion, runs between eight and 27 minutes in length. A 30-page Reference Guide is also available for download.

• The National Association of School Resource Officers offers the following training courses:
  • Basic School Resource Officer Course: A forty-hour (40) block of instruction designed for law enforcement officers and school safety professionals working in an educational environment and with school administrators. The course provides tools for officers to build positive relationships with both students and staff.
  • Advanced School Resource Officer Course: A twenty-four (24) hour block of instruction designed for any law enforcement officer working in an educational environment. This course, following the SRO Triad model, advances the SRO’s knowledge and skills as a law enforcement officer, informal counselor, and educator.
  • Adolescent Mental Health Training  for School Resource Officers and Educators (AMHT): A 1.5 day training course designed to help school resource officers and school personnel to better identify and respond to students who are suspected of having a mental health need. It was developed by the National Center for Youth Opportunity and Justice (NCYOJ) at Policy Research Associates and is intended to help school resource officers and other school professionals develop the critical skills and capacity for appropriately responding to the many predictable behavior issues that are typically observed among adolescents with mental health needs.
  • School CPTED: CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) uses design, management, and activity strategies to reduce opportunities for crime to occur, to reduce fear, and to improve the overall safety of schools. The CPTED concept emphasizes the relationship of the physical environment, the productive use of space, and the behavior of people. Upon completion of this 24-hour course, successful completion of a written test is required to obtain a course certificate.  The course will include a hands-on CPTED evaluation of a school, and attendees will be provided with tools to use on their school campuses or in their associated activities with school safety.
  • School Safety Officer Course: A 3-day/24-hour training course for non-sworn safety and security officers working in schools with an SRO or solo. The course will emphasize three main areas of instruction: functioning as a security officer in the school setting, working effectively with students, and School Safety and Emergency Planning.
  • SRO Supervisors and Management: A course for police supervisors and school administrators who have the responsibility of implementing, supervising, managing, and evaluating school-based police officers and/or programs.  The goal is to provide managers with information, skills and strategies to develop, coordinate, and maintain a successful SRO program in their school communities.
• Connect for Respect Toolkit (C4RT): Use the Connect for Respect (C4R) Toolkit to guide your PTA/PTSA in engaging students in improving the school climate and reducing bullying.
• Mental Health First Aid: Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course that teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis.
• School Safety Advocacy Council Training: The School Safety Advocacy Council is dedicated to assisting school districts, colleges and universities and law enforcement agencies in their continuing efforts to improve school safety and student achievement. We are the recognized leaders in providing the educational community with a strategic and innovative approach to on-site school safety training and development. Our strategic approach and unparalleled expertise offers the highest-quality training programs to your organization while our innovative content and delivery options provide flexible and convenient training solutions.

Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines

• Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline: The U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued this resource guide to assist states, school districts, charter school operators, school staff, parents, students, and other stakeholders who are seeking to develop school climate and school discipline policies and practices that are both locally tailored and grounded in recognized promising practices and research.
• Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence: The U.S. Secret Service, along with many of their partners, have redoubled our efforts and are poised to continue enhancing school safety. As part of these efforts, NTAC created an operational guide that provides actionable steps that schools can take to develop comprehensive targeted violence prevention plans for conducting threat assessments in schools. 
• K-12 School Security Guide (2nd Edition) and School Security Survey: K-12 School Security: A Guide for Preventing and Protecting against Gun Violence (2nd ed., 2018) provides preventive and protective measures to address the threat of gun violence in schools. The Guide is delivered in two parts: the first portion is a PDF with general security best practices and considerations in narrative format; while the second portion is a Microsoft Excel-based security survey. 

Academic Journals

Vendors

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The Threat Alert System (TAS) is a patent pending alert notification system designed to immediately notify law enforcement, first responders, employees and designees selected by the client, in the event of an active shooter or workplace violence incident within an organization. The TAS has no limitations and can communicate from single to multi level structures. TAS utilizes text, push and e-mail notifications, audible alarms and visible strobes to notify end users and first responders of the Threat.