Proactive Strategies School Districts Can Take to Improve Safety Today

Right now, school districts are contending with overwhelming issues in keeping students and teachers safe. While the pandemic presents immediate safety issues at the school level, it is also increasing stresses in millions of children's homes as family hardships grow due to economic pressures brought on by COVID. These pressures, coupled with student feelings of isolation and reduced activities due to lockdowns and social distancing, pose additional safety concerns within schools. 

The CDC advises there is potential for an increase of violence as many students have been impacted by increased time with abusers in their homes, among other factors. They offer several measures school administrators should prepare, including:

• Nominating a campus confidant students can talk to anonymously about safety concerns
• Preparing a schedule to frequently remind students there is a confidant to confide in
• Educating staff on signs of violence and how to report concerns
• Preparing safety plans on how to handle suspected or reported violence  

Along with beefing up existing safety plans, school administrators can also access tools that allow them to use district-wide data to inform safety planning and strengthen preventative action. Advanced analytics can take student information system (SIS) data and provide invaluable insights for administrators and teachers. These insights enable you to enhance safety strategies to improve student care, compliance, and preventive intervention.

Kokomo24/7 partners with small districts with just a few schools and large districts, like our flagship partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, to leverage data already being captured to build safety and trust environments.  

Our service and technology helps administrators nationwide:

• Improve safety strategies by pooling disparate data into one platform to inform preparation and prevention plans
• Remove reaction-only planning through early identification of violence threats and concerning behaviors  
• Set up anonymous bullying and crime incident reporting, with data scored to alert where a potential situation is
• Employ proven best actions to take during and immediately following incidents
• Set up backup communication channels for emergency situations and to avoid mass miscommunication
• Manage the plethora of compliance forms and records 
• Balance school security measures within existing public school budgets

The need for well developed and practiced incident response plans is paramount for school districts. We encourage you to learn more about how Kokomo24 can implement and support a district-wide safety program that meets modern district complexities. Please review our whitepaper outlining how we accomplish this below.