Districts Implementation of Active Shooter Drill Policies

High-profile school shootings provoke public outcry and calls for policy responses to gun violence in schools. However, policy makers face pressure from diverse stakeholders with distinct agendas, and in some areas, there is little empirical research to guide policy makers’ decisions. Active shooter drills are one such example of a hotly debated policy response in need of further study. As a preliminary step to filling this research gap, this mixed-methods study investigated how school districts in Florida have implemented active shooter drills following legislation passed after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. We analyzed school safety specialists’ perceptions and reports of drill procedures and their alignment with best practices. The majority of the districts surveyed aligned with Best Practices established by the National Association of School Psychologists and National Association of School Resource Officers. Implications for future research and considerations for the implementation of active shooter drills are discussed.

The Alignment Between Community Policing and the Work of School Resource Officers

Despite a growing literature showing the ineffectiveness of school resource officers (SROs) for reducing school crime, their use is widespread. Some of this ineffectiveness may arise from SROs’ experiences of role conflict due to their multi-faceted roles and conflicting expectations associated with following two authority structures. Community policing (CP) may offer a unifying perspective that can address some of these barriers. The current study uses data from 119 qualitative interviews with SROs from three U.S. states to examine the extent to which SROs’ activities align with three dimensions of CP: community partnerships, problem-solving, and organizational adaptation. This study finds that SROs’ described activities align well with these dimensions, suggesting that a CP framework may be a strong model for organizing and describing the work of SROs. This framework can be viewed as an initial proof of concept, and research may elaborate on the framework and assess its utility.

School Shootings, Locked-Down Campuses, and Fear

This chapter is first focused on how schools have become “locked-down” campuses because of the fear of school shootings and the impact of zero tolerance crime and student control policies that greatly expanded the use of school police (resource) officers and other related security measures. Next is a review of newer school management approaches using rehabilitative paradigms – to see how they impact students, school climate, and the campus environment. There are a significant number of approaches using evidence-based trauma-informed care and mental health programming (for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression problems) that can be used. Continuing to move toward rehabilitative campus approaches along with these primary, secondary, and tertiary trauma and mental health supports could help address today's “culture of fear” that is being increasingly recognized to impact many students in our schools.

School Resource (Police) Officers in Schools

Having police officers in schools (school resource officers – SROs) is controversial with a growing debate as their presence has proliferated nationally over the past 20 years. A majority of high schools and middle schools today have police on campus providing a variety of services, though primarily law enforcement. While the intent is to provide improved school safety and protection to students, unexpectedly this has not been the outcome for many school campuses when reviewing most criminal activity and school shootings. While the presence of SROs is complicated, the unintended impact has harmed more students than anticipated by criminalizing misbehaviors and disorderly conduct, making the learning environment less conducive by negatively changing school climates and disproportionately impacting many already at-risk young people.

CHRO firm dinosaur versus CHRO role gorilla: the effect of CHRO company and role tenure on firms’ social performance

Academics and practitioners emphasize the rising importance of Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs). CHROs act as heads of staff—they motivate the personnel and offer guidance. This study helps clarify the impact of increasingly relevant CHROs and reveals how their company and role tenure influence firms’ social performance. Drawing on a multisource longitudinal dataset of S&P 500 firms, we empirically validate our hypotheses. The sample contains 283 companies with 1944 firm-year observations from 2005 to 2017 and combines manually collected top management team data with data from Thomson Reuters Datastream. Our results show that there is a negative relation between CHROs with long company tenure and firms’ social performance, whereas CHROs with long role tenure positively relate to firms’ social performance. We also investigate the moderating role of CEO prior experience (i.e., HR experience, education, company and role experience) on the effect of CHRO company and role tenure on firms’ social performance. Surprisingly, CEO prior experience negatively moderates the relationship between CHRO role tenure and firms’ social performance. Overall, this article offers novel implications for the CHRO role and uncovers a distinction between two types of CHROs: CHRO firm dinosaurs versus CHRO role gorillas.

Collaborating with Specialized Instructional Support Personnel

This chapter explores collaboration with specialized instructional support personnel (SISP). It provides an overview of SISP members, including school psychologists, school resource officers, school counselors, and school nurses, and explores how school social workers can effectively work with other SISP. It demonstrates the vital importance of establishing trusting and productive working relationships with SISP in order to meet the diverse needs of students and cultivate a positive school environment. Components of interdisciplinary collaboration include trust, flexibility, interdependence, problem solving, and proactive planning. Such interdisciplinary collaboration benefits schools as well as enhancing partnerships with parents and the community. A case study highlights the importance of school social worker partnership and collaboration with SISP teams.

Identifying and intervening to stop school bullying: the role of school resource officers

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore school resource officers (SROs) and their role in preventing, detecting and intervening in bullying incidents. Design/methodology/approach Using data from 214 survey respondents, the present study attempted to identify the personal and situational characteristics that help to understand when SROs are likely to identify and intervene in bullying incidents. Findings Taking a multivariate logistic regression approach, the results show that SROs – regardless of race, age, gender and education – who can identify instances of bullying are more likely to intervene to stop it. Research limitations/implications The implications of improved training for SROs are discussed, as are ways to enhance the integration of SROs into schools’ overall anti-bullying efforts. Originality/value Bullying and violence in schools have been a growing concern for school districts and SROs are being increasingly seen as critical components of anti-bullying programs.