Legal Issues: Keeping Students Safe from Armed Intruders

Policies should:

Create school safety teams to devise and revise clear, up-to-date, comprehensive policies. Teams should include, but not necessarily be limited to, a board member, the superintendent, the SBO, administrators and teachers from different levels of schools, a school counselor, the board’s attorney, federal and state emergency management professionals, local first responders such as police and firefighters, a faculty member from a local college or university with expertise in school safety, and parents.

Ensure that they meet state and federal guidelines as well as the latest educational best practices for school safety.

Consider creating controlled-entry procedures to secure or lock down facilities, limiting access to points monitored by trained security staff or school resource officers.

Require individuals who receive the initial information that a shooter is in or near schools to have a list identifying who to notify, such as the central office and first responders.

Direct those who receive telephone threats to check the caller ID for a possible originating phone number.

Specify that in assessing the credibility of threats, officials should consider whether they are copycat acts in response to recent shootings and determine both their seriousness and specificity.

Name a designated person who, on conducting initial threat assessments, will work with the SBO and team leaders in determining whether to evacuate a school or keep classes barricaded in their rooms.

Policies should be reviewed annually to ensure they are current with federal and state guidelines, as well as best practices for school safety.

Devise plans to notify staff promptly if an active shooter is in or near a school via a special coded announcement, a text message, or a call to their cell phones. Because time is of the essence with many incidents lasting five minutes or less, it is crucial to get the word out as soon as possible and for educators to act quickly but carefully.

Mandate regular evacuation drills such as those used for other emergencies. Plans should identify safe gathering places nearby, including on school buses or athletic fields, while buildings are searched, and where personnel should remain until informed that it is safe to return to facilities or that children are dismissed to return home.

Recognize that if it is unsafe to evacuate, teachers should barricade classroom doors using a bolo stick to prevent shooters from entering while keeping themselves and students away from windows and maintaining silence so as not to alert shooters to their presence.

Ensure that no one is left behind by checking on individuals who are out of their classes or in other locations, such as cafeterias, libraries, and restrooms, so they can reach secure locations and notify their teachers that they are safe.

Remind evacuees to carry only necessary items such as wallets, identification, and cell phones.

Direct teachers to carry their class rosters and/or grade books during evacuations and take attendance once assembled with their classes in safe locations, reporting absences to a central location.

Remind all to remain quiet, not using their cell phones during drills or emergencies, unless directed to do so, to avoid creating panic in nearby communities and/or inadvertently providing information for a shooter.

Specify that first responders and other emergency personnel conduct room-by-room and floor-by-floor searches for shooters and possible victims once evaluations are completed.

Require professional development sessions for staff on shooter safety drills, emphasizing the importance of practicing evacuations.

Offer information sessions for parents and community residents to keep them up-to-date on how SBOs and their teams are taking proactive steps to ensure school safety. Sessions should require advance registration to ensure participant safety while limiting disclosure of sensitive plans to potential shooters.