News and Blog
See You in September
When it comes to music, I grew up in the wrong era. The disco era. There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees and Staying Alive, but I am more of a 1960’s guy and was better suited to the Beach Boys and Frankie Valli. My favorite end of the school year song was not...
Top Ten Best Practices for School Emergencies
An emergency of some sort may happen at your school. The question is:How do you respond?In today's unpredictable world, it is imperative that schools prioritize preparedness and have effective protocols in place to handle emergencies swiftly and efficiently. From...
6 Steps for Improving K-12 Student Mental Health
A student mental health services provider shares leading practices for preventative programming as public health experts call for universal mental health screenings in schools.As you know, my goal for this blog is to be a free resource to everyone tasked with...
Dealing with Problem Parents; Working with First Responders
When I was the Safety Director for a large school district, at the end of each day I would create a to-do list on a legal pad I kept on the corner of my desk. When I came to work the next morning, I knew if the message light on my phone was blinking, I was not going...
A New Threat: Swatting
As we have seen throughout the United States, schools and First Responders are dealing with a high volume of swatting calls in their communities. These calls increase the risk of tragedies as law enforcement and parents rush to the scene, fearing the worst.Swatting...
Using an AAR to Prepare for High Probability, Low Impact Events
Utilizing an AAR to prepare for a future weather event is just as necessary as training for a less-likely active threat event.It is not always an Active Threat Event. In fact, it is seldom an Active Threat Event. It is an event that is more likely to occur...
Trespassing on a School Bus
I recently received a call from a parent wanting to know if she could be charged with trespassing because she stepped on to her child’s school bus. Her child was having an issue on the bus, so she waited at the bus stop to speak to the driver. After all of the...
The Connection Between Bullying and a Toxic School Culture
This blog may contain details that are disturbing. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. During my seventh-grade year in school, I was the target of a bully. I was small for my...
The Student Role in School Safety
In every school shooting where the shooter was a member of the school community, including Columbine, there were students who knew about their classmate’s plan to cause harm at school. Let's work together to make sure we know about that student's plan before it...
Back to School Safety Basics: Fire and Health Hazards
School safety is not just Active Shooters. School personnel needs to be trained in all hazards. Security and Vulnerability Assessments (SVAs) can be used to identify both risks and best practices in a school. Once risks are identified, an abatement plan can be...
Threat Assessment Teams and the Resource Your School’s Team Needs
Schools are responsible for maintaining a safe and positive learning environment for all students and staff. School safety involves multiple components, one of which is violence prevention. It is critical that schools offer research-based Threat Assessment curriculum....
Back to School Safety Basics: Common Custodial Oversights
School safety is not just Active Shooters. School personnel needs to be trained in all hazards. Security and Vulnerability Assessments (SVAs) can be used to identify both risks and best practices in a school. Once risks are identified, an abatement plan can be...
Arming School Teachers?
I am often asked my thoughts on arming teachers within schools and I always start my response with the following statement: Arming school teachers can be a controversial topic and one that should be decided by schools within their respective communities. That said,...
Your School Safety Questions Answered by Gary
Looking for answers to your school safety-related questions? One week after being hired as a K12 safety director, I discovered I had more questions than answers. Fortunately, I was able to develop a network of people I could call or email for suggestions, advice, or...
Back to School Safety Basics: Secured Shelving
School safety is not just Active Shooters. School personnel needs to be trained in all hazards. Security and Vulnerability Assessments (SVAs) can be used to identify both risks and best practices in a school. Once risks are identified, an abatement plan can be...
Exercises: The Tool for Evaluating Plans, Training and Preparedness
Introducing Guest Blog Author: Gene KomondorAs you know, my goal for this blog is to be a free resource to everyone tasked with keeping others safe. While I typically post school safety-related content, emergency preparedness is a universal topic and so I often reach...
School Safety: A Broken System
Following the recent Parkland verdict, I find myself reflecting on the time shortly after the tragedy itself. I was in DC the week after it happened for Advanced Threat Assessment training. Needless to say, Parkland, as well as all of the subsequent hoaxes that...
Can We Stop Calling the Subsequent Dates of a Tragedy an Anniversary?
Anniversary [ an-uh-vur-suh-ree ] noun: 1. A day that is an exact number of years (to the day) since a given significant event occurred. Often preceded by an ordinal number indicating the number of years. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war. 2....
Happy Haircut
There’s a blank index card on my desk. When I was training at a school a few weeks ago we were talking about layers of school security to prevent the type of school shooting where the killer is a member of the school community and is intentionally...
Using Drills and Exercises to Test Your School’s Emergency Operations Plan Q&A
Below are the remaining questions I received during the August 18 webinar, Using Drills and Exercises to Test Your School's Emergency Operations Plan, hosted by the Campus Safety Webcast Series. The replay of the webinar can be found HERE by logging into your...
