Leadership

School Climate & Safety

Education news, analysis, and opinion about learning environments, school safety, and discipline.

See also: School Safety, School Shootings, School Climate, Discipline, Bullying

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  • Illustration of a group of people forming the shape of a shield around a school building.
    iStock + E+/Getty Images +Education Week
    School Climate & Safety Opinion 5 Critical Strategies to Make Your School Safer
    There's no single solution to defend students’ physical, mental, and emotional health, but these five actionable steps are a place to start.
    Doug Roberts, Ann Levett & Shanna Downs, June 1, 2023
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    5 min read
    Teachers and other staff members from the Clifton, Texas, school district undergo handgun training at a shooting range just outside of Clifton. Instructors from Big Iron Concealed Handgun Training in Waco, Texas, were giving teachers tips on what they need to know to earn a license to carry weapons out of sight.
    Teachers and other staff members from the Clifton, Texas, school district undergo handgun training at a shooting range just outside of Clifton in 2013. Instructors from Big Iron Concealed Handgun Training in Waco, Texas, were giving teachers tips on what they need to know to earn a license to carry weapons out of sight.
    Lance Rosenfield/Prime for Education Week
    School Climate & Safety Teachers Agree on Most School Safety Issues, Except Guns
    Teachers agree on their schools' top safety concerns, but they're divided over a policy that's extensively debated after school shootings.
    Caitlynn Peetz, May 31, 2023
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    4 min read
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    Chris Ferenzi for Education Week
    School Climate & Safety It's Not ChatGPT That's the Problem. It's Binary Thinking
    A lot of either-or arguments have been playing out in K-12 education over the past few years.
    Lauraine Langreo, May 24, 2023
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    2 min read
    Crime scene tape cordons off a school bus as police officers from the Indiana State Police, Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department and Columbus Police Department investigate a hit and run involving a student and a vehicle at a bus stop on South Gladstone Avenue in Columbus, Ind., on Aug. 30, 2021.
    Crime scene tape cordons off a school bus as police officers from the Indiana State Police, Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department and Columbus Police Department investigate a hit-and-run involving a student and a vehicle at a bus stop on South Gladstone Avenue in Columbus, Ind., on Aug. 30, 2021. About eight students per year are killed boarding or getting off of school buses.
    Mike Wolanin/The Republic via AP
    School Climate & Safety Drivers Illegally Pass Buses 42 Million Times a Year. What Schools Can Do
    A handful of students are killed each year getting on and off school buses. Schools can take some steps to try to make a difference.
    Caitlynn Peetz, May 24, 2023
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    6 min read
    Veronica Mata visits the gravesite of her daugher, Tess, in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 3, 2023. For Mata, teaching kindergarten in Uvalde after her daughter was among the 19 students who were fatally shot at Robb Elementary School became a year of grieving for her own child while trying to keep 20 others safe. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
    School Climate & Safety Uvalde Victim's Mother Perseveres Through Teaching, Connecting With Daughter's Memory
    Veronica Mata says she sometimes steps outside her classroom to collect herself or talk out her grief.
    The Associated Press, May 24, 2023
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    6 min read
    A mourner stops to pay his respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School, created to honor the victims killed in the recent school shooting, June 9, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.
    A mourner stops to pay his respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School, created to honor the victims killed in the recent school shooting, June 9, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.
    Eric Gay/AP
    School Climate & Safety Photo Essay Photos: A Year of Grieving and Struggling for Answers After Uvalde School Shooting
    A year after a gunman killed 21 people in a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, the community still searches for answers.
    Evie Blad, May 23, 2023
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    3 min read
    Image of a shooting target being covered over by many hands with artwork.
    melitas, Benjavisa, and CollideOscope/iStock/Getty
    School Climate & Safety Opinion How Teachers Can Collectively Push Back Against Gun Violence
    A teacher educator proposes concrete ways educators can raise their voices alongside parents and youth.
    Rebecca Woodard, May 11, 2023
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    5 min read
    Students are evacuated off the campus at Cardozo Education Campus after a reported bomb threat was made to the school on Feb. 10, 2022 in Washington.
    Students are evacuated off the campus at Cardozo Education Campus after a reported bomb threat was made to the school on Feb. 10, 2022 in Washington.
    Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP
    School Climate & Safety How Districts Should Respond to Bomb Threats
    What schools need to do to be prepared in case of a bomb threat, in the light of increasing threats to districts across the country.
    Eesha Pendharkar, April 28, 2023
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    4 min read
    A male uniformed police officer walks out of a police SUV in front of a sign that says "Richneck Elementary School."
    Police respond after a 6-year-old student shot and injured his teacher at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6, 2023 in Newport News, Va. Federal legislators are proposing data collection and a more uniform definition of school shootings.
    Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP
    School Climate & Safety What Counts as a School Shooting? Lawmakers Want an Official Definition
    A bill would also require agencies to collect more data on school shootings to guide safety efforts.
    Evie Blad, April 28, 2023
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    5 min read
    The Hilton Central School District in New York has received bomb threats for refusing to ban a book about LGBTQ+ topics.
    The Hilton Central School District in New York has received bomb threats for refusing to ban a book about LGBTQ+ topics.
    Courtesy of the Hilton Central School District
    School Climate & Safety Book Ban Debates Prompt Bomb Threats Against Schools
    An upstate New York district received four bomb threats after community members objected to a book.
    Eesha Pendharkar, April 27, 2023
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    10 min read
    Education Week opinion letters submissions
    Gwen Keraval for Education Week
    School Climate & Safety Letter to the Editor How to Support Students Following a School Shooting
    An educator offers seven tips for teachers and parents about how to talk to kids about and help them deal with the aftermath of school shootings.
    April 25, 2023
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    1 min read
    Security officer James White wears a mask as protesters hold signs during a Board of Education meeting in Castle Rock, Colo., to discuss the use of masks and other protective measures in Douglas County Schools on Aug. 24, 2021. A federal judge issued a restraining order Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, against the suburban Denver county's policy allowing parents to opt their children out of a mask mandate at schools, finding that the rule violates the rights of students with disabilities who are vulnerable to COVID-19.
    Security officer James White wears a mask as protesters hold signs during a board of education meeting in Castle Rock, Colo., to discuss the use of masks and other protective measures in Douglas County Schools on Aug. 24, 2021.
    AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via AP
    School Climate & Safety After Threats and Unruly Meetings, School Boards Invest in Security
    Many districts have decided to make metal detectors, security guards or police, and mandatory bag checks a permanent feature of board meetings.
    Caitlynn Peetz, April 18, 2023
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    7 min read
    Imran Jackson, Rayonna Ross, Stevie Mras, from left to right, made up the prom court last year at Florida’s Atlantic Coast High School prom, held on April 23, 2022.
    Imran Jackson, Rayonna Ross, Stevie Mras, from left to right, made up the prom court last year at Florida’s Atlantic Coast High School prom, held on April 23, 2022.
    Courtesy of Atlantic Coast High School
    School Climate & Safety King, Queen, and Sovereign? Prom Courts Grow More Diverse
    In some school districts, the traditional prom court is becoming more inclusive, with students driving the changes.
    Elizabeth Heubeck, April 14, 2023
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    3 min read
    An empty classroom is shown at A.G. Hilliard Elementary School on Sept. 2, 2017, in Houston.
    An empty classroom is shown at A.G. Hilliard Elementary School on Sept. 2, 2017, in Houston.
    David J. Phillip/AP
    School Climate & Safety Texas Lawmakers Could Make It Easier to Kick Students Out of Class
    The bill would allow a teacher to remove a student based on a single incident of unruly or disruptive behavior.
    Talia Richman, The Dallas Morning News, April 14, 2023
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    6 min read
    An illustration of a woman walking a circular path.
    iStock/Getty + Vanessa Solis/Education Week
    School Climate & Safety Opinion 'Small Actions Matter': A Teacher Reflects on School Shootings Since Sandy Hook
    One teacher recalls the emotion of teaching 25 miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School on the day of shooting—and the decade since.
    Laura Milligan, April 14, 2023
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    4 min read
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