What Needs Work
Emergency Plans
According to the CS survey, “created or revised emergency plans” was the most common improvement implemented by educational campuses since Columbine, with 84 percent of respondents (80 percent K-12 and 86 percent university) selecting this option.
Unfortunately, so
me institutions don’t regularly update their plans to reflect their campus’ changing environment and threats. 
(Note: Respondents could select all answers that apply to their campuses)
Another challenge to creating a good plan is hiring unqualified consultants to do the job. “One of the ways they conceal the fact that they aren’t qualified is they won’t work with local police, fire, emergency management and public health officials because they are afraid of being exposed when the local experts get involved,” says Mike Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International and former chief of police for the Bibb County public schools. Dorn recommends school officials take a collaborative approach.
Bully Prevention
For K-12 respondents, bully prevention is a popular security improvement. Seventy-seven percent of schools and districts say they started or expanded their traditional and cyber anti-bullying programs after Columbine, and 22 percent believe increasing bullying prevention is one of the five best ways to improve safety and security. How to implement these programs, however, is difficult, particularly because the delivery methods of bullying have changed since 1999.
“It’s even more of a challenge now with the social networks that are out there and the threats made in the cyber world and with cell phones and text messaging,” says Ethan Hoff, safe school administrator for San Juan Unified School District. “They are very hard for schools to monitor.”
Time for Training
Because so many schools and districts are struggling to meet the challenges posed by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), many just don’t have the time to train staff on safety and security. “We are struggling to get more administrators trained in ICS principles,” says Hoff. “The time for this training poses challenges because there are other demands placed on school administrators, especially with all of the academic standards.”
