School Safety Insider Ken Trump

School insurance companies are offering "free" security and emergency preparedness assessments to their school clients, but there are hidden dangers for superintendents and boards who chose to have unskilled insurance representatives perform security assessments. This episode explains why this is a risky approach. We also take listeners through our unique, three-decade process of evaluating school security and emergency preparedness.

Schools are polling places in many communities. Schools tighten security and control access year-round, only to open their doors to strangers one or two days a year for voting. The 2020 election cycle has been filled with anger, contentious debates, violence, and hostility across party lines. In this podcast learn how schools, even those with only staff present on Election Day, can take risk reduction measures for the safety of those inside.

Veteran school security director Tina Ingram takes us deep inside the challenges of being responsible for the safety of tens of thousands of students and school staff.  What is the impact of COVID19 and beyond on school emergency planning? How do you manage school-based police and balance their roles with race and school to prison pipeline concerns? What makes a school security director successful in working with principals and central office administrators? Tina Ingram of Durham Public Schools shares her story of nearly 20 years as a school security director.

School safety depends upon reviewing best practices in school security and emergency preparedness during COVID-19.  While school administrators and crisis teams have focused on COVID-19 reentry plans, school emergency plans and crisis teams must be reinvigorated as students and staff return to school.  Are your school safety plans updated and aligned with best practices?

Internationally renowned school psychologist Dr. Scott Poland discusses social-emotional aspects of school safety in COVID-19 safe school reentry, school shootings, and teen suicide prevention.

Why police in schools? Do School Resource Officers (SROs) improve school safety or lead to more student arrests? What is implicit bias and what is its role with school police? Mike Rudinski, a veteran school safety expert with the Maryland Center for School Safety, joins us for an inside look at SRO best practices.