The day after the deadly shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School the rallying cry heard across the country was "no-more school shootings!" It was clearly evident that school shootings are increasing and reactive measures are not going to change this. Images from Parkland, Sandy Hook, and Columbine made it ever so clear that whereas the atrocities caught our attention, schools are still soft targets. There are no manuals from the United States Department of Education to turn to for guidance to secure schools. No guidance on how to train administration and staff, as they truly are the first responders in such an event. Rather than wait for the heads of the federal and state education departments to step up and take-action, the time has come for all school leaders and administrators to take the step to protect their school communities. This book will help school leaders and administrators proactively take action to protect their school communities and yet still maintain a warm and nurturing learning environment.
Industry Reviews
A must read for school leaders whose first thought every morning is how do I keep my students safe today? In School Safety Dr. Susan Vickers and Kevin L. Smith take school leaders on a journey of discovery for the impact and consequences of issues surrounding school safety. Most school leaders began their career as teachers and never thought about having to deal with the uncountable number of safety issues we deal with on a day to day basis. This book creates a platform of thoughtful dialog around this new job qualification that none of us ever dreamed of or wanted. -- Charles S. Dedrick, EdD, Executive Director, New York State Council of School Superintendents
This book is the next necessary and logical step forward in teacher training and preparedness and should become a mandatory teacher workshop in our teacher preparation, certification and credentialing. I emphatically endorse and strongly recommend this book to all who work in a school setting. My hope is that teachers, teacher's aides, administrators, school security officers-all school personnel-will read this book. -- Kathleen P. Hotaling, Teacher of English Language Arts, NYS Certified 7-12
I have been working with Doctor Kevin Smith for most of my 32-year career in law enforcement. Dr. Smith has been involved with an uncounted number of investigations that require his expert opinion and diagnosis. His current role as a member of the Ulster County Chiefs of Police assists the county tremendously with our school related threats. His SAD PERSONS program is used almost daily. -- Perry M. Soule, School Safety Committee, Ulster County Sheriff's Office
School safety is on the mind of every school leader, every day. There are many people who have opinions on how to keep students and employees safe. I found this read to be clear, concise, and "real-life". I feel that it is a great resource, and also makes for a very useful book study read. Kudos to the authors for putting so much effort into improving our skills to keep people aware and safe. -- Christopher R. Brown, PhD, Superintendent of Schools, Marcus Whitman Central School District
Following tragedies at schools throughout the nation, terms like social-emotional health, trauma-informed (and trauma-sensitive) schools, as well as student mental health, wellness, stress and anxiety now permeate our lexicon as dedicated educational professionals work to understand the challenges facing our students. As school districts throughout the nation work to improve school safety and security by implementing a wide array of preventative measures, all-encompassing standard emergency protocols, and comprehensive post-incident response procedures perhaps the most important take-away is that is that we will never be able to assure the safety of all of our students without first understanding the challenges that each individual child faces. To avert potential tragedy, veteran school administrator Dr. Susan Vickers and distinguished physician/psychiatrist Dr. Kevin Smith provide this timely and compelling reminder that we really need to get to know our students - one child at a time! This book is well worth the read and its inherent message may be the difference between an incident at your school becoming a significant media headline or an inconsequential footnote. -- Craig J. Tice, PhD, superintendent of schools, Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District
