Homeland Security, DOE push school safety awareness

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Justice, announced Aug. 17 it had launched a public awareness campaign to highlight federal school safety resources and evidence-based practices available through SchoolSafety.gov.

“Government has few responsibilities more important than ensuring the safety of our communities – especially our children. To protect our children and educators, we must ensure the schools they attend and work in are safe and secure,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

The announcement stated that the back-to-school campaign will educate school administrators and personnel, teachers, parents and guardians, and state and local government officials about school safety resources, and SchoolSafety.gov will release a range of resources, including a video, communications toolkit and infographics to help schools learn more about how to enhance school safety, access support, and easily share information about the campaign with others in their community.

“Student and educator safety remains our priority. I want all school and district leaders, educators and staff, and students and families to know that SchoolSafety.gov is the one-stop shop for accessing resources and evidence-based approaches for building safe schools and positive learning environments,” said U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

SchoolSafety.gov is the public website of the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse, an ongoing and collaborative effort among the Department of Education, Homeland Security, DOJ and Health and Human Services to enhance school safety through a whole-of-government approach, said the release.

According to the announcement, the public and school communities can access hundreds of resources and evidence-based practices to enhance school safety through the site, which can be used to help inform and support school safety plans, programs, and initiatives within individualized and unique school settings.

These resources address a range of issues and elements critical to school safety and include information on bullying prevention, student mental health support and services, school climate, emergency planning and preventing acts of targeted and community violence, stated the release.

For more information, visit www.schoolsafety.gov/back-to-school-campaign.