School Boards Not Doing Enough For School Safety

There is no greater concern than the safety of our children. We live in a new reality of school shootings, terrorism, bullying, drugs and gang violence. While school boards oversee budgets, state mandates, and curriculum needs, there is a significant void in security oversight. Of course school board members are concerned about school safety and security, but the planning and oversight of this important function is left largely to school administrators alone. The school board prepares goals for each educational year and providing a safe and secure school environment is usually the number one goal of every district. Yet, school boards annually adopt school safety plans and security audits while leaving the planning, modification and review of those plans and audits solely as an administrative function. School board members are elected officials of the district and as such are required to oversee all safety and security plans, operations and audits. School Boards are generally made up of individuals with expertise or concerns regarding specific areas in education like Special ed, Gifted programs, Sports, Music etc. While some board members are concerned about the economics of running a school district like, Taxes, Budgets, State Aid etc. But rarely are there board members with expertise and/or concerns regarding school safety and security. I believe this leads to school boards relying solely on administrators to be, not only the gatekeepers of safe and secure schools, but also the overseers. School Boards need to take a more active role in overseeing the safety and security of our staff and students.