By Bret Rachlin on 2/5/2010 5:22 PM

Two weeks ago this blog highlighted the challenges schools have when reporting safety and security incidents. While that article dealt with a Maryland school district, it’s apparent that Pennsylvania schools grapple with the same issue (Source: readingeagle.com, February 1, 2010, School safety reports imperfect, Berks educators agree).

This article explains how a conservative school district may appear to have more incidents per student because it reports more incidents, but that it doesn’t mean that it’s more unsafe. In fact, it may be safer due to its focus on identifying issues and resolving them. People reviewing the reports should not jump to conclusions. Frank Vecchio, Reading’s acting superintendent, said it best, “You have to be careful with the data.”

Over ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 1/29/2010 1:35 PM

For many schools across the country, drugs are a big problem. However, often illegal drugs are less prevalent than the improper use of prescription drugs. In light of this, the Benton Police Department in Arkansas plans to conduct Operation Medicine Cabinet on Saturday, February 6th. The program encourages parents to dispose of old medicine properly and rewards parents with gift cards that drop off medicine at the police department and other locations next Saturday (Source: TodaysTHV.com, January 20, 2010, Operation Medicine Cabinet to combat prescription drug abuse in Arkansas).

According to the article, many teenagers in this Arkansas community have abused prescription drugs that come from their parents’ medicine cabinets, and some have even sold the drugs in school to their classmates. Obviously, this community recognizes that it has a pre ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 1/22/2010 3:30 PM

Is the reporting of school safety and security incidents an art or a science (Source: WTOP.com, January 15, 2010, Montgomery County grapples with school safety report)? If it’s a science, then schools simply would note their security/safety incidents and let the report speak for itself. If there were 20 fights during the school year, then that’s how many would be in the report. If it’s an art, however, then of those same 20 fights, it’s possible only 10 would appear in the report.

Montgomery County, Maryland, is not the only district dealing with this issue, but it is the district covered in the highlighted article. With several groups weighing in on the latest School Safety and Security at a Glance report, including county officials, school security representatives, and Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office, it’s no wonder that there’s disagreement about what incidents should ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 1/15/2010 3:42 PM

Thieves stole nine flat-screen televisions, television production equipment and an undisclosed amount of money from Johnson Middle School in Melbourne, Florida, on New Year’s Eve (Source: Florida Today, January 11, 2010, School slowly returns to normal). Additionally, they vandalized the school, breaking windows to access classrooms and destroying musical instruments such as cellos. Overall, the break-in “resulted in more than $30,000 in damaged and stolen school property.”

There are two main issues concerning this crime that warrant attention. First, the school did not have video surveillance. While video surveillance may not have deterred the perpetrators and prevented the incident, it likely would assist police in catching the thieves. Since most of the school’s students understandably were upset and concerned becaus ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 1/8/2010 4:58 PM

Schools in Lynn, Massachusetts, plan to upgrade their security programs with access control systems this year (Source: The Daily Item, December 27, 2009, Security upgrade coming for Lynn schools). Eighteen schools will benefit from the upgrade, which costs $75,000. With the new system, the school will issue access control cards to employees, allowing administrators to keep track of people entering and leaving buildings.

While the article simply highlights the basics of the new security upgrade and explains that the mayor-elect wants to bring back school resource officers, it’s the comments section that is most interesting. Obviously, many people who comment often hide behind obscure usernames, and it’s usually those most passionate that take the time to comment. Unfortunately, the majority of the 10 comments are negative about the security upgrade. Some blame pa ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/29/2009 12:08 PM

Earlier this month the New Jersey State Senate passed a bill, which will require schools to conduct school security drills to improve emergency preparedness (Source: PolitickerNJ.com, December 10, 2009, Girgenti-Ruiz Bill To Require Schools To Conduct Security Drills To Improve Emergency Preparedness Approved In Senate). Now schools will conduct a monthly security drill in addition to a monthly fire drill.  Back in May I reported on this bill's initiation from the New Jersey Senate Education Committee.

According to the article, the bill explains that a “security drill is specifically intended as an exercise to practice procedures to safely respond to an e ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/23/2009 2:22 PM

Budget cuts to the Woodland Joint Unified School District (Woodland, CA) will negatively impact the district’s school security program, as the jobs of several campus safety supervisors and one school resource officer (SRO) will be eliminated (Source: Daily Democrat, December 12, 2009, Woodland district’s budget cuts leave holes in school security).

While the district will leave most of the safety and security duties up to the principals and vice principals, the one remaining SRO will mainly respond to emergencies. This means that the SRO will have little time for early intervention to mitigate or prevent incidents from occurring, as SROs typically work with “parents and students to get to the bottom of problems or address tensions at schools before they escalate into aggression.”

Unfortunately, the article doesn’t mention on what basis the dist ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/18/2009 4:52 PM

With so many school safety and security issues needing to be addressed, it’s hard to imagine having to worry about cafeteria safety, too. From the recent stories about the quality of meat served in school cafeterias to Eastchester Middle School’s cafeteria upgrade in New York, (Source: USA Today, December 16, 2009, In New York, a model for how to improve a school cafeteria) improving cafeteria quality has moved higher on the school administrator’s to-do list.

After three years of violating several food safety rules, Westchester County Department of Health fined Aramark, Eastchester’s cafeteria manager, $3,400. Eventually, Aramark lost the contract for Eastchester to a lower bidder, and Eastchester Union School ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/11/2009 4:01 PM

Instead of attending school earlier this week, Asian students at South Philadelphia High School planned to meet outside of school during school hours after a series of assaults last week (Source: Education Week, December 7, 2009, Philly Students Plan Walkout in Wake of Attacks). The assaults took place among black and Asian students, resulting in ten student suspensions. While accounts of the incidents differ, some Asian students claim school security guards “often turn a blind eye.” According to regional superintendent Michael Silverman, the racial tension “started in the community and came into the school. I don’t know how you separate the school from the community.” He indicated that school officials “have met with school security guards to discuss the need for consistent discipline.”

Overall, South ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/4/2009 2:12 PM

Recently, a school security specialist picked up a suspicious suitcase containing what appeared to be pipe-bomb materials in front of a group of students at an elementary school in Omaha, Nebraska (Source: KETV.com, November 30, 2009, School Officials Review Safety Protocols After Object Held). The specialist handled the suitcase after calling 911, but prior to the police arriving. Fortunately, it was not a bomb, but only objects students who were playing with a BB gun left behind.

The incident has led the school to review its safety procedures to ensure safety and security professionals follow the proper protocol concerning mysterious objects that could cause harm. Additionally, the school is training its safety patrol students on how to deal with suspicious packages.

Overall, this elementary school should be commended for engaging in this level of ... Read More »