CSPV
School Violence Fact Sheets
- Schools can no longer be seen as islands of safety
because violence has invaded far too many of the nation's
schools.
- Nearly 3 million index crimes occur on or around
American school campuses which is 16,000 crimes per
school day or about 1 every 6 seconds when schools
are in session.
- Violence in schools has been affected by the changing
climate for public education including more children
of teenage parents; more latch key children and more
developmentally delayed children requiring more special
education classes. The varied cultural and ethnic
makeup of inner city student populations has also
created social stress within schools.
- Alcohol, drugs and gangs all contribute to school
violence.
- Fear of violence in schools affects attendance of
students and causes attrition of staff.
- Courts have notified schools to either create safe
school campuses or be prepared to compensate victims
for their losses.
- The goal of safe school planning is to create and
maintain a positive and welcoming school climate,
free of drugs, violence, intimidation and fear - an
environment in which teachers can teach and students
can learn in a climate which promotes the success
and development of all children.
- The best safe school plans involve the entire community.
- Safe schools plans must be complemented by plans
for reducing violence in neighborhoods.
- By developing a safe school plan, administrators
can prevent many crises, help reduce
violence and promote a positive educational climate.
- The first step in safe school planning is to place
school safety on the education agenda, which involves
making a personal and collective commitment toward
creating a safe and welcoming school climate.
- All safe school plans share some of the same features;
no two will be exactly alike.
- Each school needs to develop a plan that meets the
unique needs and circumstances that the local school
is facing.
- Schools need to conduct a site assessment before
developing a safe school plan. Determining the specific
issues and concerns the local community believes are
most important begins the process of customizing a
relevant and meaningful safe school plan.
- Every important school safety issue is embedded
in existing law. The school district's lawyer should
conduct a review of federal, state and local statutes
pertaining to student management and school order.
This review identifies what the law requires and what
the law allows for safe school plans.
- After a site assessment is conducted each school
needs to develop a plan which involves articulating
what the school wants to accomplish and the processes
by which these goals will be achieved.
- Essentially, the three components of safe school
planning include: 1) identifying where you are as
a district and community specifying top concern and
issues, 2) asking where you want to be and 3) calling
for the development of a plan to deal with the difference
between where you are where you want to be.
- There are six overall subjects that should be covered
in a safe school plan: 1) the physical environment,
2) the social environment, 3) the cultural environment,
4) the economic environment, 5) the personal characteristics
of individual students and staff members, and 6) the
local political environment.
- Safe school plans need to include crisis response
plans, which can save time and energy and can maintain
commitment when unforeseen problems arise.
- The safe school planning team is the driving force
behind the planning process and the team should include
teachers, counselors, the principal, the vice principal,
school security, maintenance and the school secretary.
Students should be at the heart of the process and,
if age appropriate, part of the planning team.
- Safe school planning initiatives are best established
by community coalitions of school, law enforcement
and community leaders.
- For any plan to succeed, the safe school planning
team must draw upon the cultural diversity of the
community it represents.
- Making the planning team work effectively is difficult.
One of the biggest challenges is to allay the fears
and resentments that may arise when formerly independent
agencies are suddenly asked to share the same "turf."
However, diverse efforts from a multi-organizational
and cultural planning team sends an important message
to the community that school safety is not merely
a school problem, but rather a community problem.
- To have an effective safe school plan there is a
compelling need to identify what works and what does
not work so that limited resources can be applied
with a maximum return.
- Every school should conduct an annual school safety
assessment, which can be used as an evaluation and
planning tool to determine the extent of school safety
problems and the safety plan addressing them.
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