School Safety in the News

School Safety App at Honeysuckle

City and school district officials conduct school safety audit

In response to Newtown shooting, some states move to put guns in classrooms

School safety, mass shootings among topics at annual public safety summit

Six months after Sandy Hook shootings, schools seek secure redesigns

Industry News: District Administrations’ Readers’ Choice Top 100 Products Awards Program

District Administration has opened its nomination period for the 2013 Readers’ Choice Top 100 Products Awards! PublicSchoolWORKS has achieved this distinction five years in a row and is aiming for a sixth! With your help, we will achieve it!

To nominate either or both of our suites, go to www.districtadministration.com/top100 and fill out and submit the nomination form by September 1, 2013.

We appreciate your nomination of PublicSchoolWORKS’ award-winning suites to be among the top ed-tech products!

Research Update: Childhood Bullying and its Effects Later in Life

StopBullying.gov posted information about a recent study from Duke University focused on the effects of bullying. The study found that victims of childhood bullying have a higher risk of developing mental health problems as adults.

Researchers studied more than 1,000 youth starting at ages 9, 11 and 13 and interviewed them until they turned 16. The study found that bullied youth are at higher risk for developing agoraphobia, anxiety and panic disorders and antisocial personality disorders. Within the study group, females had an increased risk for agoraphobia and males had an increased risk for suicidal tendencies. To read the whole study, click here.

As the study finds, there is a very real and serious effect of childhood bullying on quality of life. PublicSchoolWORKS’ Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program (SBVPP) is a comprehensive program that includes staff and student training, reporting tools, anti-bullying posters and other tools to properly prepare students, staff and schools. The combination of automatic alerts for administrators, staff and student training and community communication mechanisms makes the SBVPP the ultimate tool for addressing bullying and student violence.

To learn how your school can use the SBVPP for bullying and student violence prevention, email sales@publicschoolworks.com

Product Highlight: Student Bullying Reporting System

When it comes to employee and student data, it is imperative that information is limited only to the appropriate administrators based on their role, responsibility with each report type and their individual security level.  PublicSchoolWORKS’ accident management systems —the Employee Accident Management System and Student Accident Management System-- and safety issue reporting systems—Student  Bullying Reporting System, Student Safety Reporting System, Staff Misconduct Reporting System and Hazard Reporting System — automatically notify and engage the appropriate individuals that a report has been submitted for immediate action. Nobody is required to log-in and review a report to determine the appropriate person to take action. Also, all data is secure, providing access only to the people at each school or at a district level that the district has deemed necessary to have it.

Unlike other providers who combine reporting systems into one, potentially unsecure, system, PublicSchoolWORKS has specifically created specific systems for each report type based on role and responsibility with immediate notification of all appropriate individuals to prevent schools from unnecessary liability issues. By keeping reporting systems separate, PublicSchoolWORKS is ensuring that confidential information about students, staff and visitors is not accessible to people who have no business seeing it. In addition to securing information, separate systems simplify the process of determining who should take action as the recipients are defined in the system based on the report type and when a report is submitted, the system auto-notifies the correct administrator.  A system that notifies the appropriate administrator when a report has been submitted ensures timely results. In addition to the auto-notification, PublicSchoolWORKS staff reviews all student bullying and safety reports and a call tree has been established allowing us to make contact with district staff in the event of an emergency report, regardless of the time of day.

For example, PublicSchoolWORKS’ Student Bullying Reporting System is specifically for students to report bullying concerns. Both online and telephone mechanisms allow students to report bullying incident details. Once a report is submitted, the designated principal is immediately alerted via email to get involved and document the result of their investigation. This comprehensive reporting system ensures that bullying concerns are being addressed with the speed and intensity that they deserve.

See future stories about PublicSchoolWORKS’ other reporting systems:

• · Student Accident Management System
•  Confidential/Sexual Misconduct Reporting System

To learn how your district can implement the Student Bullying Reporting System, email sales@publicschoolworks.com.

Customer Highlight: Streamlining Bullying and Student Violence Incident Reporting and Investigation with Cleveland ISD

Cleveland Independent School District in Cleveland, TX, was experiencing severe bullying and student violence incidents in the district. Prior to implementing PublicSchoolWORKS’ EmployeeSafe Suite and Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program (SBVPP), it, like most districts, received handwritten bullying reports submitted to an administrator. This paper process left room for mistakes and oftentimes led to long and sometimes inconclusive investigations.

In addition to its inefficient reporting process, Cleveland ISD did not offer training for staff or students regarding bullying or student violence incidents. Educating staff and students on the proper way to handle these situations is vital to ensuring the safety of students.

At the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, Cleveland ISD implemented PublicSchoolWORKS’ EmployeeSafe Suite and Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program (SBVPP) and saw its processes and response to incidents improve dramatically.

“Implementing the PublicSchoolWORKS system allows us to easily report and gather the data we need when making decisions about student safety,” said Karin Miller, Assistant Superintendent of Special Programs at Cleveland ISD. “Staff members are now trained on key student safety topics such as bullying prevention, suicide prevention and depression in students. The program also gives students and parents the ability to report incidents electronically and auto-notifies appropriate administrators of a report based their security level, thus ensuring that issues are being addressed as quickly as possible.”

Instead of chasing down paper incident reports and potentially misplacing them, administrators get an alert via email when a report is filed. All actions regarding an incident are documented and maintained within the system, giving administrators easy access to data and the ability to pull trend reports. 

Both staff and students now have access to an abundance of information about bullying and student violence prevention. Anonymous reporting mechanisms, hotlines and parent portals are new and very beneficial tools that are now available to the Cleveland ISD community. Even the district’s police department is involved with the student safety program. Each police officer receives training on various issues to ensure they understand some of the situations Cleveland ISD’s students face.

“The administrative processes surrounding student safety concerns are much easier to track now that PublicSchoolWORKS is managing it,” said Miller. “We are confident that our staff and students know the appropriate actions to take should they encounter a bullying or student violence incident. PublicSchoolWORKS has allowed us to shift our focus from damage control to education.”

To learn more about how your district can use EmployeeSafe Suite and the SBVPP to streamline student safety, email sales@publicschoolworks.com.