NSBA Releases Comprehensive School Safety Guide

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

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • 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.

  • Girl Sitting at Library Desk, Using Laptop

    How Campus Design Shapes the Finals Week Experience

    Academic performance is not just about preparation. It is closely tied to how students manage stress, maintain their energy, and shift between work and recovery modes. Much of that is influenced, directly or indirectly, by design.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.