As students of all ages head back to school this fall, one topic on administrators’ minds will be school safety, and that means preparing for the possibility of an active shooter on campus.
And preparation is becoming more important. There were 30 percent more school shootings in the U.S. during the 2017-2018 school year than in 2016-2017, and the number of guns found on campus soared by 267 percent, according to a new report from the nonprofit Educator’s School Safety Network (ESSN). The report also says that during a crisis, teachers and school administrators are often the first first responders, and if they’re not prepared, everyone is more vulnerable.
So how can schools respond effectively to an active shooter incident? We offer three key ways.