Risk and Safety Assessment

Educators by law are required to be “loco parentis”, which means in place of parents; providing instruction, supervision, and safety of students. The responsibility of ensuring the safety and well-being of every student on campus takes on a great amount of liability. Every staff member bears this responsibility but many do not recognize the task. As written in School Law and Public Schools by Essex, liability of school personnel falls into the following categories:
Individual liability – school personnel may be held individually liable for their actions that result in injury to a student.
Vicarious liability – districts may also be held vicariously liable for the negligent behavior of their employees.
Foreseeability – ability of an educator to predict or anticipate that a certain activity or situation may prove harmful to students.
Nuisances – any dangerous or hazardous condition that limits free use of property.
Invitees – there is an expectation that the property is safe for invitees.
Licensees – school officials have a duty to warn invitees of any impeding dangerous conditions and to take reasonable steps to protect them.
Trespassers – there is normally no obligation to protect trespassers who enter the property illegally.
Parents – when parents visit schools, there is an obligation to address unsafe conditions prior to their arrival.
(Essex, 2012)

Just as these laws create liability for school personnel, school safety standards are in place to prevent any such liability. Conducting the risk and safety assessment of schools helps us as educators identify potential threats/violations beforehand.

Using the Georgia Department of Education assessment checklist and the Mitigating Hazards in School Facilities checklist for Corridors and Outdoor facilities; we were able to identify areas needing improvement. The positive is element of this facility is that it’s only two years old; no identifiable code violations. There are definitely areas that require attention given the nature of the student demographic.

Building and Grounds * BHS is a two-story building with one major hallway on each floor. These two hallways hinder visibility due to its contoured shape; only allowing approximately 33% visibility. * The building has 60 cameras monitoring exterior doors, stairwells, most hallways, bathroom entrances, main office, cafeteria, bus ramps, media center, gyms, and parking lots (limited distance and lighting). * There are 15 entrances/exits doors; all remain locked except for two; one leading to the faculty parking lot and the main entrance requires buzzing in. All remaining doors have the potential to be propped open or opened by someone on the inside.

Corridors, Interior Doors, and Lockers * Corridor sight lines are not maximized due to the contour shape of the two major hallways. * Blind corners do not have mirrors or security cameras to increase exposure. * Windows can only be covered with manual blinds. * Exit signs are only located at the top of each door; confusion does exist by visitors and how to maneuver through the building. * All interior doors require a coded key for that door or set of doors. Doors can be set to be locked or unlocked at the entrance. All doors can be opened from the inside. Some doors can be locked from the inside.

Outdoor Athletic Facilities and Playgrounds * BHS does not have any playgrounds. * The only violation identified in our outdoor stadium is a gated entrance is occasionally left unlocked by the PE staff for access.

Commendations/Recommendations/Suggestions
The school needs more security cameras to provide surveillance in those unsupervised areas of the building. Cameras should be placed at every angle of the building. The previous principal has requested additional cameras on several occasions and has yet to get Board approval. We have limited personnel to effectively monitor these secluded areas; cameras are essential to deter inappropriate behavior. To address the blind corners through out the building, it is recommended that mirrors be installed to prevent unseen collisions. There have been several teacher cars that have been either stolen or vandalized in the parking lots. The cameras at these locations oscillate from side to side and do not provide a clear picture at certain distances. We would tremendously benefit from having a security person patrol the parking lots, in addition to more cameras.

The team also recommends that all doors be fitted for key card entry from the outside. The campus is very large and parking lots are located at the extreme ends of the building. Providing staff with key cards keeps staff from having to make a journey to enter the building; easier access if they simply need to run to their car, stops people from propping doors open. Key cards do not alleviate someone on the inside opening the door for others to enter; this should be addressed through proper supervision on the inside of the school.

Several areas of risk can be addressed through the effective training of faculty and staff. We need to identify resources that can properly train us such as: Controlling New Age Bullying, Suspension and Expulsion, and Teacher Safety Orientation (Training, 2014).

In the event of a crisis, we need to establish better protocols for our first responder team. We’ve had intruders, weapon situations, emergencies in the surrounding community, fires, and medical emergencies. Our school resource officers have done a good job at leading the response team; however, teachers have not been made aware or trained for most emergencies. Intruder, fire, and medical situations we respond well to but some small enhancements can be made. Like having window shades for classroom doors; teachers currently block the window out with paper and turn the lights off. We should also create emergency kits to kept in the classrooms that contain items like water, band aids, flashlight, etc.

Lastly, we need to assess our current Emergency Response Team and ensure we have qualified participants, proper training, and consistently meet to make adjustments prior to an actual emergency. Our ERT needs training and development in missing students, weapon in classroom, site security, post crisis debriefing/assessment, and riot prevention (Stockton, 2014).

References:
Essex, N. (2012). School law and the public school. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

Stockton Unified School District (27 July 2014). Emergency Response Crisis Management 2009-2010. Retrieved from: http://rems.ed.gov/docs/repository/REMS_000048_0011.pdf.

Training Network (26 July 2014). School Safety. Retrieved from: http://www.safetytrainingnetwork.com/store/training-topics/specific-industries/school-safety.