{"id":6104,"date":"2023-03-10T15:22:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T15:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education-expert.com\/NewEE\/?p=6104"},"modified":"2024-02-28T17:22:43","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T17:22:43","slug":"duty-and-standard-of-care-for-prevention-of-school-shootings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education-expert.com\/NewEE\/duty-and-standard-of-care-for-prevention-of-school-shootings\/","title":{"rendered":"Duty and Standard of Care for Prevention of School Shootings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Schools have a duty to protect students, faculty, and staff from harm arising from acts of violence, such as school shootings, when the harm is reasonably foreseeable. However, schools are not built like fortresses, nor should they be. It is not the latest security technology, metal detectors, or an indoor active-shooter detection system that are critical for providing the safest environment possible in a school setting. Rather, it is the culture and climate that exist in the school; the policies, procedures, and protocols in place for maintaining a safe environment; and, most importantly, the implementation of those policies, which includes adequate training, supervision, and support. While there are no guarantees, this article offers information that can help with minimizing the risk of school shootings and associated harm to students and staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, teachers and administrators must be trained to respond to reports or red flags that school shootings could occur. The people in the building and their collaboration with outside agencies, such as public safety, form the real backbone of any security system in our schools. In my professional experience as a school and district administrator, a school without standard policies, procedures, and protocols and a school community that does not practice a culture of school safety will have a higher risk of violence than a school with those policies, practices, and culture in place.<\/span><\/p>\n

School Shootings are Foreseeable and Are an Established Risk of Harm\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

School shootings are an established and foreseeable risk that schools have a duty to try to reduce at all times. According to the <\/span>K-12 School Shooting Database<\/a><\/strong>, which has recorded all K-12 school shootings from 1970 to the present, 332 people were shot (fatal and wounded) in 303 separate incidents on K-12 school property in 2022, the highest single-year total in the database. In fact, the last five calendar years (2018\u20132022) have seen the highest 5-year total of K-12 shootings and incidents. Between the time of the shootings at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and at Ridgeview Jr. High School, in Pickering, Ohio, on February 2, 2023, <\/span>more than 338,000 students have experienced and been exposed to school gun violence at 366 K-12 schools<\/a><\/strong> in the United States. Tragically, during this 24-year span, 191 children, educators, and other people have been killed, and another 414 have been injured.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

School safety and security standards related to school shooting prevention are derived from federal and state laws, as well as research-based recommendations and best practices. A school\u2019s duty to prevent and reduce the risk of school shootings lies in determining the approach best aligned with the school\u2019s unique needs, culture, location, and population.<\/span><\/p>\n

School Shooting Prevention Standards<\/b> and Practices<\/b><\/h2>\n

Each state has enacted laws and regulations for keeping school students, faculty, and staff safe from acts of violence. For example, in Colorado, home to some of the deadliest school shootings in the United States, the <\/span>Claire Davis School Safety Act<\/a><\/strong> \u201cimposes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity for schools if a school fails to exercise \u2018reasonable care\u2019 to protect all students, faculty, and staff from \u2018reasonably foreseeable\u2019 acts of violence that occurs at school or a school-sponsored activity\u201d (Colorado School Safety Resource Center, n.d., para. 1). The act, passed in 2015, was named after high school senior Claire Davis was killed in a shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, in 2013. Another example is in 2022, <\/span>New Jersey passed P.L. 2022, c. 83<\/a><\/strong>, which requires all public schools to develop multidisciplinary threat-assessment teams. Furthermore, Massachusetts passed <\/span>Section 363 of Chapter 159 of the Acts of 2000<\/a><\/strong>, which requires all school districts to formulate multi hazard evacuation plans that encompass, among other emergencies, school shootings and other terrorist activities and bomb threats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to state standards, there are federal guidelines and standards that recommend proactive steps, including adequate security precautions and training for school shooting prevention. For example, the <\/span>STOP School Violence Act of 2018<\/a><\/strong> gives the United States Department of Justice authority to provide grants to public agencies, including school districts, to improve security on school grounds through evidence-based safety programs. Other federal standards include, but are not limited to those issued by, the United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, the United States Department of Education, the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Department of Justice, and other professional organizations that protect students, faculty, and staff from incidents of school violence. In 2013, these agencies developed a <\/span>Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans<\/i><\/a><\/strong>, which provided a process for developing, implementing, and continually refining a school or district Emergency Operating Plan (EOP). Based on lessons learned from previous incidents, <\/span>the guide<\/a><\/strong> describes five areas in which schools should focus on lowering the risk of school shootings:<\/span><\/p>\n