Tackling academic recovery, teacher shortages and increasing school safety continue to be top-of-mind issues for leaders in K-12 education.
District Administration had the opportunity to gather feedback from a diverse group of over 50 K-12 employees, comprising of superintendents, administrators, board directors and school employees, regarding the issues they’re dealing with this school year, particularly surrounding school safety.
Here’s what they had to say.
Looking ahead
Among a variety of things to look forward to this school year, most said helping students recover academically was their top priority, followed by working face-to-face with teachers and administrators. See the complete list of responses below:
What are you most looking forward to in 2022-23?
- Helping students bounce back academically: 75.51%.
- Working face-to-face with teachers and administrators: 36.73%.
- A full return to in-person learning: 34.69%.
- Holding sporting events, arts performances, and other activities: 28.57%.
Some said they were thankful to have these returned during the 2021-22 school year. However, one respondent said political pressures are keeping them from returning to normal.
“The end of communist control of the federal government allowing us to get back to some form of normalcy,” one said.
School issues
When asked what issues were affecting their districts, the majority said they were dealing with staff shortages and mental health issues among students and staff. However, most of them ranked political controversies as the most pressing issue they’re facing. Here’s what they say is impacting their districts the most:
- Political controversies and restrictions on curriculum: 40.43%.
- The upcoming expiration of ESSER funds: 37.5%.
- Staff shortages: 8.33%.
- Learning loss remediation: 8.16%.
- Student and/or staff mental health: 3.92%
School safety updates
As school safety continues to stir controversy and confusion for districts across the nation, it’s important to understand how schools are addressing safety concerns.
When asked how often their school updates their safety plans, an overwhelming majority said they’re updated at least once per year. Here are their responses:
How often does your school update its safety plans?
- Once per year: 65.38%.
- More than twice per year: 9.62%
- Twice per year: 3.85%.
However, 21.15% of respondents specified different approaches to safety policy updates. Most commonly, they said their policies are “updated as needed” or “under constant review.”
Guest and visitors
Many districts have chosen to update their visitor policies following the tragedies that occurred last school year as a result of gun violence. We asked them how they address allowing visitors to their schools. This is what they said:
What is your policy for guests and visitors entering campus?
- We have a strong policy that includes ID checks and required visitor passes: 84.62%.
- We have a more open campus that doesn’t require ID checks and/or visitor passes: 11.54%.
- We don’t allow visitors or guests during school hours: 3.85%.
In the event of a school safety threat, alerting staff and students is essential. For most schools, fortunately, it takes less than a minute, according to the survey responses.
How quickly are faculty and staff notified when a code red occurs?
- Less than a minute: 57.69%.
- Less than 5 minutes: 38.46%.
- Less than 10 minutes: 3.85%.
SROs on campus
Surprisingly, a slight majority of schools don’t have safety resource officers present on their campuses all day, according to results.
Do you have school safety resource officers on campus at all times?
- Yes: 44.23%.
- No: 55.77%.
Additionally, most schools allow their SROs to carry weapons on the premises.
Are school resource officers allowed to carry weapons at your school?
- Yes: 75.51%.
- No: 24.49%.
Locked door policies
Deciding whether or not to keep classroom doors locked has become a controversial topic this school year. According to respondents, most schools keep their classrooms locked all day.
When are classroom doors required to be locked?
- Throughout the day: 53.85%.
- During emergency or code red drills only: 42.31%.
- Never: 3.85%.
Cybersecurity
Despite the growing number of ransomware attacks targeting K-12 schools across the country, less than 20% of respondents rank cybersecurity high on their list of concerns for their district. See their responses below:
On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest), how would you rank cybersecurity as one of your district’s concerns?
- 15.38% ranked cybersecurity at 5
- 34.69% ranked cybersecurity at 4
- 38.46% ranked cybersecurity at 3
- 9.62% ranked cybersecurity at 2
- 3.85% rank cybersecurity at 1
The overwhelming majority of respondents said they haven’t experienced any cybersecurity threats so far this year.
Have you experienced any fallout from cybersecurity issues this year so far?
- Yes: 13.46%.
- No: 86.54%
Lastly, respondents had the opportunity to share with us what other issues their schools are facing surrounding security. Here’s a sampling of their remarks:
“Some schools are not completely fenced. There are open spots where anyone can walk on campus and avoid the office. This is very scary in today’s climate of school shootings.”
“Funds need to be made available for smaller rural schools to improve their safety and security programs and update older buildings.”
“Growing number of internal threats due to the poor mental health of students and parents/guardians.”
“We have an SRO at the high school, but not other buildings. Local police do regular walk-throughs at the other schools.”
“Separated/divorced parents wanting to pick up child without parental access and becoming hostile.”
“Handling safety and security at extracurricular events, primarily athletic events where emotions run high and events can escalate quickly.”
