Resources

In March 2014, The Foundation for School Safety & Security was founded out of the need to address the numerous hostile intruder events that were plaguing our nations schools. The FFSS&S uses a strategic agenda in supporting the needs of schools, colleges  and universities in the areas of crisis mitigation and preparedness. They provided a host of services from consulting, security plan reviews and training. The following are some of the services they provided.

School Safety Risk and Security Assessment

The  Foundation will create a working partnership with your staff and  approach the assessment process as a team. Upon completing the  assessment we will review all recommendations and opportunities with  your administrative team prior to a final report. The areas that our  team will review will include, but not be limited to:

• Physical security systems and structural defense mechanisms (based on CPTED);
• In School and after hours security review;
• Local community issues impacting school(s);
• Review of existing crisis plan, evacuation plan, lock-down plan, and student/parent re-unification plan;
• Bus compound and transportation review;
• Atmosphere assessment.

Crisis Mitigation and Response  

The Foundation will review all current layers of defense and response  systems in place. The Foundation will conduct an in-depth review of the  current procedures in place, asses the environment for weaknesses and  strengths. The Foundation will additionally:

• Conduct a School Safety and Security Assessment;
• Issue an action item list and response options tailored to your needs;
• Update lockdown methods and/or evacuation plans;
• Conducted a training on the updated methods;
• Conduct and coordinate a mock drill of the updated methods.

School Crisis Table Top Exercise

The foundation will conduct and coordinate a tabletop exercise  centered on a school crisis response. School Crisis Tabletop Exercises  simulate an emergency situation for a school, its staff, as well as  emergency responders in an informal, stress-free environment. These  exercises allow the participants to work together as a cohesive group on  a crisis situation in a relaxed, controlled and safe environment. Real  life crisis situations will be provided to the groups to stimulate  discussion on response options and allow the groups to explore and  examine various responses and resolve problems based on current school  crisis response methods. 

The benefits of a school crisis tabletop exercise:

Testing the capabilities of the team;

Providing a gap analysis to identify deficiencies and problems in the current program;

Familiarizing participants with plans and procedures through low-stress activities;

Preparing the team to coordinate with local, state and federal agencies;

Enhancing collaboration between school districts and public information officers (PIOs);

Increasing the confidence of the team while strengthening its ability to respond effectively to an emergency.

Full Scale School Crisis Drill

   The foundation will conduct and coordinate a full scale school  crisis drill centered on a school crisis response that will evaluate the  operational capability of emergency management systems in a highly  stressful environment that simulates actual conditions. The full-scale  exercise will test and evaluate most functions of the emergency  response-operational plan, including the mobilization of emergency  personnel, equipment and resources. To design and conduct a full-scale  exercise, The Foundation will collaborate with local public safety  agencies to choose a scenario that is most likely to occur in the  community and thereby involve all community stakeholders. The Foundation  will conduct a post-incident critique and develop an after-action  report to identify issues for correction. Full scale drills  validate existing emergency plans, programs, policies, roles and  responsibilities, as well as the training curriculum, by:  

Testing the capabilities of the school crisis team;

Providing a gap analysis to identify deficiencies and problems in the current school crisis plan;

Testing the school staff and emergency responders as well as school safety plans and procedures under high stress circumstances;

Evaluating the school’s emergency coordination with local, state and federal agencies;

Increasing the confidence of the school crisis team while strengthening its ability to respond effectively to a school emergency

The School Safety Advocacy Council (SSAC) was established in  2005 with the goal of providing the highest quality school safety  training and services to school districts, law enforcement agencies and  communities. The Council was founded to expand beyond the singular  approach of relying on law enforcement as the solution for school  violence to a cooperative approach which includes all stakeholders. 

                      The School Safety Advocacy Council has become the recognized leader in  school safety services and training. The Council and its experts, all  current law enforcement, government, or education executives, have  extensive experience working with school districts and law enforcement  agencies nationwide. Our experience ranges from assisting one of the  largest school districts in the nation with their districtwide one to  one technology roll out, where we conducted assessments and developed  recommendations for policy and procedures for a program to distribute  technology to all 640,000 students and staff members in their district,  to working on projects to assess and train a single school. 

                      The School Safety Advocacy Council has the experience and knowledge to  exceed the requirements of any project. With our proven experience of  hosting multiple large national conferences, performing school safety  services for the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of  Justice and it’s Centers, and providing assessment, training and  consulting services to school districts and law enforcement agencies  across the county, we are the only organization that can bring such a  diverse national perspective and experience to your community or  district.

 The Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) is a  consortium of police departments in Middlesex and Essex Counties, and  two County Sheriff’s Departments. Member agencies operate by sharing  resources and personnel, collectively providing services to each other  that might not be available to one. NEMLEC coordinates this sharing of  personnel and resources to provide its member agencies with the ability  to provide supplemental services to the 1.7 million people in the 925  square miles they serve. For more information about NEMLEC, please visit  the NEMLEC home page.

Since its inception in 1999, the Northeastern Massachusetts Law  Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) School Threat Assessment and Response  System (STARS) program has become a nationally recognized model, and has  further expanded its response capabilities in the area of school-based  mental health, including psychological triage and recovery.

The team continues to advance its founding purpose, which is to  provide overall school safety awareness, school crisis planning, hazard  identification, and training, by adhering to the core concepts of the  Emergency Management Cycle: Prevent, Prepare, Respond, and Recover.  These tenets are shared and established by a strong and dedicated  multidisciplinary group of volunteers from public and private schools,  colleges and universities, fire departments, hospitals, and police from  local, state, and federal agencies.

The main purpose of the STARS Toolkit 2nd Edition, the School Emergency Operations Plan,  and its companion website and resources, is to provide visitors with a  comprehensive resource to aid them in their school crisis management  planning and response.

We highly recommend that first-time visitors download and read the STARS Toolkit 2nd Edition at the outset, to  better establish a foundational understanding of contemporary school  safety planning and all the companion resources contained within this  website.

The STARS Toolkit companion website is organized to follow the core  concepts of the school emergency management planning cycle, so that  visitors can quickly find what they need, when they need it.

Finally, we offer the School Emergency Operations Plan (SEOP) for  school districts to utilize to update their current polices, or to  build a policy from the ground up.  It has been intentionally provide as  a Word document, so that users can download and customize to the unique  needs of their school district.

We hope you find the resources provided here useful to your school  district, in your efforts to make your school communities safe and  secure educational facilities for all your students, staff, and  visitors! 

 The Arkansas Safe Schools Association is a statewide, non-profit   organization consisting of School Resource Officers, School Safety   Personnel, School Administrators and others dedicated protecting our   children and helping our schools maintain a safe and orderly climate,   thereby creating a positive learning environment.

Our goal is to   provide consistent, up-to-date, affordable, quality, training that is   available to all law enforcement agencies and school districts across   the state.  This training, along with a communication network of school   safety professionals will make Arkansas Schools a safer place to learn.