News and Blog

On the morning of September 8, students at Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon were eating breakfast when the cafeteria filled with toxic gas. According to KCBD, prosecutors allege that a 15-year-old student brought household chemicals from home,...

Every coach walks into Friday night with a game plan. Every play is drawn up, every player knows their assignment, and every scenario from a fourth down to a two-minute drill has been practiced. Yet at many high schools, the people responsible for the safety of...

Every August, emergency plans get approved. Signatures go on the page, the binder goes back on the shelf, and everyone moves on to schedules, bus routes, and staffing. Then the students arrive. Three weeks into a school year, a plan that read perfectly in a quiet...

I recently had the opportunity to share some of the lessons I've learned over three decades in education and law enforcement in a new article for Domestic Preparedness: "A Responder's Thoughts on Protecting Schools From Violent Threats." The piece pulls together...

I spent my career as an eighth-grade science teacher and School Safety Director, and if there's one thing I heard from teachers more than any other, it's some version of this: "Nobody ever taught me how to do this." They're right. A traditional education degree will...

Alyssa's Law is named for Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting. Her mother, Lori Alhadeff, turned that loss into a legislative campaign that has spread fast: New Jersey passed the first version in 2019, and by 2026 some form of it is law...

In part one of this series, I recapped the legal and tactical sessions I delivered at the Ohio School Resource Officers Association (OSROA) Basic Training Course — covering proactive safety planning, the Barnes v. Felix Supreme Court ruling, and the Six Domains of...

I recently had the opportunity to present at the Ohio School Resource Officers Association (OSROA) Basic Training Course — working directly with new SROs as they build the foundation for one of the most demanding roles in public safety. I delivered five sessions...

For many educators, the end of the school year feels like a finish line. Students leave for summer break, hallways become quieter, and attention naturally shifts toward vacations, maintenance projects, and planning for the next academic year. From a school safety...

For years, school safety conversations have focused heavily on hardware. New locks. New access control systems. New visitor management software. New barriers. New products marketed as the answer to school violence. A newly released research report from the ALERRT...

One of the greatest advantages summer offers is space—space to improve emergency preparedness without disrupting instruction. While students are off campus, schools have a rare opportunity to focus on strengthening systems intentionally.Summer is ideal for: Updating...

Every August, I see the same pattern repeat itself. Administrators and School Resource Officers return from summer break facing a familiar scramble—plans rushed back into place, outdated contact lists hastily updated, and staff trying to regain confidence before...

I recently took my grandson to school and stayed for an event. As I walked back to my car, I watched the morning routine wind down. Staff were in the parking lot directing traffic, helping students through the crosswalk, and keeping everything moving. They were doing...

The end of the school year is emotional, celebratory, and logistically intense. Assemblies, graduations, field days, and altered testing schedules all create moments worth celebrating—but they also introduce new safety challenges that don’t exist during a typical...

Late in the school year, preparedness often takes a quiet backseat.  Attention is divided between testing, end-of-year events, staffing coverage, and the push to simply make it to summer.  Teachers are burned out and may not even remember where they can find the...

Rejection, Resilience, and Recognizing RiskWhy This MattersProm season is a high-emotion time for students. Rejection, breakups, embarrassment, and social pressure can intensify feelings for some students. Most handle it appropriately. A small number may struggle and...

A Safety Day is not a checklist of drills.It is a structured learning experience built around your Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and the Incident Command System (ICS). Done correctly, it reduces fear, builds confidence, and creates alignment between staff, students,...

The safest schools are not the ones that do the most drills.They are the ones that teach, practice, and reflect. One of the most effective ways to set the tone for the entire school year is to conduct a School Safety Day within the first two weeks of school in...

Having an emergency plan is one thing.Being able to use it under stress is something else entirely. In real incidents, no one has time to flip through a three-inch binder, search a shared drive, or try to remember what was covered in training last August. Under...

No two schools are identical, but the findings from security and vulnerability assessments are surprisingly consistent. A strong assessment does more than check doors and cameras. It examines facilities, policies, Emergency Operations Plans, Emergency Response Plans,...