School Safety Initiatives

Advocate for adequate funding to implement new state-mandated school safety initiatives. The district is seeking one million dollars to support items such as School Safety Officers, and an integrated 24/7 call center, fence line monitoring at schools, and a comprehensive surveillance solution for school districts to meet these requirements.

Though previous research has found school disorder and violence impair student achievement, reduce instructional time in the classroom, and negatively affect educators, research also suggests improving school safety is extremely complicated and can be expensive (Cornell & Mayer, 2010).

For example, a study that included over 50,000 students found that perceptions of school safety were lowest at schools with the highest number of security cameras in the building (Johnson, Bottani, Waasdorp, & Bradshaw, 2018); the same study found mixed results for security cameras outside the school building and the presence of a school safety officer. Additional studies have found that teachers feel their students are more fearful with school safety officers in the building (Wood & Hampton, 2020). A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice found that increased law enforcement presence in schools is linked to declines in educational outcomes and increased exposure to the Juvenile Justice System (Counts et al., 2018).

Researchers suggest a thorough understanding of what is leading to school violence in each school and better data collection for accountability of school safety interventions is needed to understand how best to integrate technology and implement school safety plans (Muhlhausen, 2020; Justice, 2016)

Research and Academic Articles

  1. Physical Security Measures and Surveillance:

    • Cornell, D. G., & Mayer, M. J. (2010).Why Do School Order and Safety Matter? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 18(29).

    • Johnson, S. L., Bottiani, J., Waasdorp, T. E., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2018). Surveillance or safekeeping? How school security officer and camera presence influence students’ perceptions of safety, equity, and support. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(6), 732-738.

    • Nguyen, K., Yuan, Y., & McNeeley, S. (2020). School security measures, school environment, and avoidance behaviors. Victims & Offenders, 15(1), 43-59.

  2. School Resource Officers: 

    • Nguyen, K., Yuan, Y., & McNeeley, S. (2019). School Security Measures, School Environment, and Avoidance Behaviors. Victims & Offenders, 15(1), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2019.1679307

  3. Comprehensive Evaluations of School Safety Initiatives:

    • Thurston, A., & Black, R. (2014). Effectiveness of School Safety Programs: A Systematic Review. Review of Educational Research, 84(3), 375-403.

Government and Institutional Reports

  1. U.S. Department of Justice – Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS):

    • Counts, J., Randall, K. N., Ryan, J. B., & Katsiyannis, A. (2018). School resource officers in public schools: A national review. Education and Treatment of Children, 41(4), 405-430

  2. U.S. Department of Justice- Office of Justice Programs

    • Muhlhausen, D. B. (2020). A Comprehensive School Safety Framework Report to the Committees on Appropriations. National Institute of Justice.

  3. RAND Corporation Reports:

    • Justice, C. (2016). The Role of Technology in Improving K–12 School Safety.

  4. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Reports:

    • Fisher, B. W., Mowen, T. J., & Boman, J. H. (2018). School security measures and longitudinal trends in adolescents’ experiences of victimization. Journal of youth and adolescence, 47, 1221-1237.