Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

NSBA Releases Comprehensive School Safety Guide

  • 08/22/18

Washington, D.C. – NSBA has released a legal guide to help school board members, as policy makers for school districts, navigate the increasingly complex world of emergency preparedness and response to instances of school safety and mass violence. “Fostering Safer Schools, A Legal Guide for School Board Members on School Safety” takes a fresh look through a legal lens at school safety. The guide identifies key areas of concern that have emerged as looming issues including student mental health, crisis management, working with law enforcement and legal liability. 

“School safety has been and will always be a top concern for school board members,” says Thomas J. Gentzel, NSBA’s Executive Director & CEO. “I hope this legal guide offers state school boards associations a valuable resource they can share with their school board members to ensure that each and every student and educator is able to learn and teach in most secure environment possible.”

The school safety guide covers:

  • Student emotional and mental well-being and threat assessment;
  • School safety planning;
  • Working with law enforcement; and
  • Liability and insurance.

The guide also provides a list of resources that are available from NSBA, state school boards associations, third-party organizations, and federal, state and local government.

“School safety needs to continue to be top of mind for all of us in the wake of so many tragedies, whether big or small,” adds Francisco Negrón, NSBA’s Chief Legal Officer and Interim Chief Advocacy Officer. “Our guide offers school boards critical information and best practices to consider when making the best choices for their school districts and their children.”

Access Fostering School Safety, A Legal Guide for School Board Members on School Safety at https://www.nsba.org/fostering-safer-schools

Featured

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • North Carolina District Completes New Elementary School

    The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in Holly Springs, N.C., recently announced that construction on a new elementary school has finished, according to a news release. Rex Road Elementary School measures in at 133,000 square feet and is the fifteenth school that general contractor Balfour Beatty has completed for the district.

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.