District Administration - September 2010 - (Page 58)

Keeping Schools Safe During Tight Budget Times climate of uncertainty about the future, and with limited to no input or engagement from the aﬀected parties. Cuts to prevention and security programs are often made from a “bean counting” perspective without consideration being given to the long-term impact of the cuts. Dollars are saved in the short-term, but the decisions fail to factor in the long-term adverse impact and likely greater costs that may arise as a result of the cuts. For example, eliminating a drug or violence prevention program, or perhaps security or school police oﬃcers, will save dollars today. But an increase in violent incidents because of reduced safety forces could result in increased costs for insurance and legal settlements down the road. Replacing in-house school security staﬀ and school resource oﬃcers (SROs) with private security guards may save dollars today, but this decision could create lower standards and a diminished quality of safety services in the future. e old adage about being “penny wise and pound foolish” ﬁts a number of recent school safety cuts we have seen across the nation. School leaders are risking not only increased legal liability but also a potential loss of credibility with parents and the school community. 4. False assumptions that cuts to prevention, security, police and other safety programs can be shifted to outside agencies with no adverse impact to the schools. When eliminating security staﬀ and school-based police oﬃcers, boards and administrators are often quick to claim there will be no harm done, as principals will simply call the local police and get the same service. Cuts to prevention programs are often justiﬁed with the expectation that community-based and social service agencies will pick up the load. Such assumptions fail to recognize that the elimination of these programs shift safety from a proactive to reactive posture within the district. ese decisions also fail to recognize that police, social service and community-based agencies are facing staﬀ and programmatic budget cuts just like 58 September 2010 Strengthening School Safety Communications MOST SCHOOLS HAVE POSITIVE MEASURES IN PLACE TO ENHANCE SCHOOL SAFETY, but many do not communicate what they are doing to the school community. Beef up school safety communications through the following strategies: • Maintain a school safety Web page. Create and update a dedicated page on your district’s Web site focusing exclusively on school safety issues. Post tips for parents (drop-off and pick-up driving spots around school, visitor sign-in, cybersafety parent resources), on where and how to get emergency notices from the district, prevention and intervention programs for students, features on school resource ofﬁcers (SROs) and security staff and related information. Add a link on individual school Web pages that connect to the district’s safety or security Web page. • Engage parents in school safety planning. Add parent representatives to building- and district-level crisis teams. Encourage the district’s parent organization to form a school safety committee. Provide speakers on safety issues for parent meetings. Communicate safety and crisis issues regularly in parent newsletters and online networks. • Promote school safety in local media. Promote school safety topics to local radio and TV public affairs programs. Use district and/or community cable TV shows to highlight safety and crisis-preparedness programs. Work with student newspapers on student-focused stories on school safety topics (bullying, cybersafety, crisis drills, etc.). • Dedicate board meeting time for school safety. Highlight positive prevention, security and preparedness measures at board meetings throughout the school year. Keep your board informed on school safety, and engage board members as active partners in school safety initiatives. • Maintain a crisis communications plan. Create and update a formal crisis communications plan separate from, but coordinated with, school emergency guidelines. Stay out in front on communications regarding security threats and text-messaged rumors, and have a plan ready for communicating during crises. Train district and building administrators on managing parent and media communications on safety and crisis issues. education agencies, so their capacity to take on the school district’s burden will be minimal or nonexistent. 5. A tunnel-vision focus on education reform and accountability, which has shifted education leaders’ focus away from school safety. e political and administrative pressures associated with improving test scores, debating and implementing education reform strategies, and meeting other state and federal expectations has forced many educators and legislators to take their eyes oﬀ the ball of school safety. Absent a series of highproﬁle incidents resulting in heightened parent and/or media attention, the bulk of conversation and lobbying within and outside of the education community has focused on policy and funding needs for academics, not school safety. Each of these dynamics, taken individually, is challenging in itself. Collectively, they form a perfect storm that is putting school safety in serious jeopardy. Assessing the Damage e unanticipated costs of this reduction and/or elimination of prevention, security, and preparedness staﬀ and programs will most likely include: Elimination of programs and staﬀ that create a framework for school safety and prevention eﬀorts. A recent report, “School Security Budget Cuts,” by the U.S. Department of Education found, “Programs being cut include Student District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2010

District Administration - September 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Inside the Law
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
A Salary Recession for School Administrators?
Working Hard in the Big Easy
School Safety Gets the Ax
Keeping Schools Safe during Challenging times
Google and Microsoft Go to School
A Bull Market for Financial Literacy
Problem/ Solution
Tech Disruptions
Student Counsel
Product Focus
New Products
Superintendent’s Insights

District Administration - September 2010