Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
As K-12 students prepare to return to the classroom after summer break, a new survey gauges the most pressing safety concerns for parents and teachers. The report shows that 67% of both parties are much more concerned about school safety now than they were five years ago, even though 73% of parents and 80% of […]
On July 27, U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), Tony Gonzales (TX-23), and Don Davis (NC-1) joined parents of the Parkland school shooting victims—Lori Alhadeff, Max Schachter, and Tony Montalto—to introduce new bipartisan school safety legislation to require silent panic alarms in public schools nationwide and invest in school resource […]
State officials recently marked completion of several major safety initiatives under the Delaware Emergency Management Agency’s Comprehensive School Safety Program (CSSP). Delaware is now among the first states to create high-resolution digital blueprints of all school buildings and grounds for every public and charter school. The new maps will enable law enforcement and first responders […]
Editor’s note: The views expressed in op-eds are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of Facilities Management Advisor. The recent Canadian wildfires greatly impacted air quality hundreds of miles away in major American cities, demonstrating how disasters in one country can affect the health of others. This issue also came to light in […]
In Massachusetts, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced that 42 school districts have been awarded nearly $3 million in grant funds to facilitate physical security enhancements and help ensure the safety of students and educators. The administration awarded $2,910,000 in federal grant funds through the Safer Schools and Communities Initiative. The federal funds are managed in Massachusetts by the Office […]
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the approval of 48 Smart Schools Investment Plans focused on reimagining education in an evolving age and boosting school security. The approved plans, totaling $13.2 million, are part of the $2 billion Smart Schools Bond Act, a sweeping education technology program established in 2014. “Investing in our children’s education […]
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) has awarded over $20 million to harden the perimeters of K-12 schools across the state. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved the LDOE’s Stronger Connections Grant program allocations to 39 traditional public and public charter systems. According to the LDOE, the funds will be used […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) have released the K-12 Bystander Reporting Toolkit, a new resource to support K-12 schools in strengthening school safety reporting programs and encouraging bystander reporting among students and the broader school community. The toolkit offers simple strategies and guidance K-12 […]
On May 10, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed school safety legislation into law and recognized the investment of more than $230 million to strengthen safety at public and private schools across the state. The measures are in response to a March shooting that killed three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville. “Nothing is more […]
In a constantly changing world, the security and safety challenges schools face—as well as the ways in which schools can address those challenges—are also ever-changing. The Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) has released the sixth edition of its Safety and Security Guidelines for K-12 Schools—a free resource that offers comprehensive information for school administrators, […]