Nebraska School Safety and Security Resources

The NDE School Safety & Security Policies, Plans, Requirements, Trainings, & Best Practices document is a list of things within school safety that are needed to create a safe and secure environment in schools. It is not limited to this list of items. The manual is to give guidance and support to school personnel in safety and security according to NDE Rules, Revised Nebraska State Statutes, and/or evidence-based and/or informed best practices.

This is also the document to utilize to achieve Diamond Badge status in School Safety. Informing a local community the school is meeting the checklist of items in this document to keep students, staff, and visitors safe in their school environment.  The Safety Badge is the reassurance to your local community that your personnel do all they can to Place School Safety First!

Rule 10 – Accreditation of Schools

Rule 27 – Regulations and Standards for Professional Practices Criteria

Rule 58 – Regulations For Security-Related Infrastructure Grants

Rule 59 – Regulations for School Health and Safety

§79-3104

Jay Martin, NDE School Safety & Security Director

The state school security director appointed according to section 79-2,143 shall be responsible for providing guidance and support for safety and security for the public schools. Duties of the director include, but are not limited to, the school safety state statute §79-2,144:

1. Collecting safety and security plans, required pursuant to rules and regulations of the State Department of Education relating to accreditation of schools, and other school security information from each school system in Nebraska. School districts shall provide the state school security director with the safety and security plans of the school district and any other security information requested by the director, but any plans or information submitted by a school district may be withheld by the department pursuant to subdivision (9) of section 84-712.05;
2. Recommending minimum standards for school security on or before January 1, 2016, to the State Board of Education; Adopted 2016 State Board Standards.
3. Conducted an assessment of the security of each public school building, was completed by August 31, 2019;
4. Identifying deficiencies in school security based on the minimum standards adopted by the State Board of Education and making recommendations to school boards for remedying such deficiencies;
5. Establishing security awareness and preparedness tools and training programs for public school staff; Tools and Training Programs
6. Establishing research-based model instructional programs for staff, students, and parents to address the underlying causes for violent attacks on schools;
7. Overseeing behavioral and mental health training, with a focus on suicide awareness and prevention in public schools pursuant to section 79-2,146; Approved Training List
8. Establishing tornado preparedness standards which shall include, but not be limited to, ensuring that every school conducts at least two tornado drills per year;
9. Responding to inquiries and requests for assistance relating to school security from private, denominational, and parochial schools;
10. Recommending curricular and extracurricular materials to assist school districts in preventing and responding to cyberbullying and digital citizenship issues; and
11. Carrying out the department’s responsibilities under the School Safety and Security Reporting System Act.

Break the Silence

Rompe el Silencio

See Something, Say Something

Si Ves Di Alos

Risk Messages Related to Children, Youth, and Schools

Communication Message(s) for Use During/After a Threat, Hazard, or Incident

How to Use This Message Guide Building trust and conveying messages of hope and recovery are critical to the emotional wellbeing of persons affected by emergencies and other incidents.

This document serves as a toolkit with templates to achieve this goal; these templates can be adapted to the needs of each incident.

Within you will find several pre-developed messages. Spokespeople should practice delivering the three key messages, then work their way through the supporting points when needed. The messages may also be modified to send out via emails, text messages, and social media.

RATIONAL for the Administering of Narcan/Naloxone in Schools.

Schools are responsible for anticipating and preparing to respond to a variety of emergencies. The school nurse is often the first health professional who responds to an emergency in the school setting. Thus, the school nurse and/or school designee(s) access to Naloxone as part of their school’s emergency preparedness will improve opioid overdose response, response preparation, harm reduction, and avoid horrific outcomes such as death. With Naloxone as part of an emergency protocol, a school nurse or designee can quickly administer it to prevent overdose deaths by reversing life-threatening respiratory depression. Ensuring ready access to Naloxone at schools aligns with one of the SAMHSA’s five strategic approaches to prevent overdose deaths (SAMHSA, 2016).

Original Safety and Security Standards

Parents entrust their children and their safety to schools every day. Students trust their school is safe. The 103rd Nebraska State Legislature recognized the importance of school safety and security by passing Nebraska State Statute 79-2,144(2) in 2014. This legislation requires the Commissioner of Education to appoint a School Security Director who, among other duties, must recommend minimum school security standards to the State Board of Education.

This document contains the safety and security standards that have been adopted by the Nebraska State Board of Education. The standards are based on best practice and are meant to be a guide for school districts to identify the minimum standards for school safety and security. They were created by a collaborative group of educators, law enforcement, and emergency responder/planners from across Nebraska.

The safety and security standards address four classifications;

• Prevention: Aimed at preventing incidents
• Preparedness: Targeted at limiting incident casualties, destruction, and chaos
• Response: Intended planning to respond to an incident
• Recovery: Designed actions to return the climate and environment to pre-incident conditions.

Each standard, under one of the four classifications, supports the respective category of prevention, preparedness, response, or recovery. Most standards have indicators that further delineate the standard. Some indicators may appear the same, but what differentiates the meaning is the category wherein it is identified.

This document is intended for reflection and consideration of the standards a school should meet to be safe and secure as possible. It should be used to help schools determine their progress toward implementation of strategies for creating safe and secure schools.

US Department of Education Survey: ED School Climate Surveys

Panorama Survey:  https://www.panoramaed.com/resources