National School Safety and Security Services

09/18/2026

To all school staff: If you're assigned to supervise students, put the phone away.

Watch arrival, dismissal, lunch, passing periods, recess, or an athletic event.

Are the adults assigned to supervision actually watching students and their surroundings? Or are some looking down at their phones?

Being physically present isn't the same as actively supervising.

• Be visible.
• Keep moving.
• Scan your surroundings.
• Engage students.
• Watch known problem areas.
• Minimize distractions.

A camera might show you what happened afterward. An attentive adult may see trouble developing before it happens.

Sometimes better and don't require another product or piece of technology. They require adults paying attention.

If you're on supervision duty, supervise. That's a simple message worth reinforcing with and staff.

09/17/2026

One minute until you’re live...

Back on FOX 5 DC today talking about an armed robbery and guns inside a Maryland high school. The photo shows what the split screen looks like from my office studio screen just before going live.

Beyond the immediate incident, there is an important leadership lesson here. Timely, transparent and authentic communication from principals matters, especially when a weapon is involved and parents understandably want answers.

The school's principal put out a message to parents. The goal for such communications: Explain what happened, what the school did, what law enforcement did, what remains under investigation, and what families need to know.

And an especially important point: Kudos to the student who came forward and reported the gun to a trusted adult. Students speaking up remains one of the most important layers of . That deserves to be reinforced in both the safety response and the communications that follow.

Good don’t just manage the incident. They communicate through it.

09/17/2026

New technology. Old emergency codes.

Red. Blue. Yellow. Purple. Orange. Green. White.

FEMA favors plain language over codes. So why add another step for people to decode under stress?

New school safety resource for evaluating technology - My NEW resource: School Emergency Color Codes vs. Plain Language: What School Leaders Should Know https://zurl.co/r4y2e

09/15/2026

School security technology is a multibillion-dollar marketplace. School leaders need independent analysis, not another sales pitch.

While some consultants spend their time glad-handing and schmoozing with vendors, manufacturers, and industry interests, we choose a different path: No product sales. No vendor affiliations. No sponsored recommendations.

Our new School Security Products and Technology: Independent Guidance for K-12 School Leaders is designed to help think critically before buying, mandating, or embracing the latest product or technology.

We examine access control and door security, weapons detection, panic buttons, cameras, AI, emerging technologies, vendor influence, industry standards, evidence of effectiveness, human factors, and more.

The questions aren't simply: What can we buy? What does the vendor promise?

The better questions are: What problem are we trying to solve? What does the evidence actually show? What are the limitations and unintended consequences? What people, policies, training, and secondary response are required? Will it work in a real school under real-world conditions?

Independent. Non-product-affiliated. Evidence-informed. Built to support better decisions.

Stop checking boxes. Start asking better questions.

https://zurl.co/q2blK

09/13/2026

09/12/2026

When does an angry parent become a concern?

Schools have always dealt with upset parents. But threats, intimidation, harassment, attempts to bypass , and physical assaults against teachers, administrators, front office staff, security personnel, and SROs require more than good customer service.

Research reported in 2026 found 77% of school administrators surveyed experienced verbal or threatening aggression from parents after COVID-era restrictions were lifted.

I’ve created a new resource for on preventing, de-escalating, assessing, and responding to these incidents while still preserving constructive parent engagement.

The distinction is behavior. And schools need to be prepared before someone is screaming at the front desk.

Learn more: https://zurl.co/gfaue

09/11/2026

Cut through the noise.

Get independent, non-product-affiliated analysis of what works, what doesn’t, emerging issues, and the questions should be asking.

Sign up for my free monthly Strategic School Safety Leadership Brief and/or new blog post alerts at the bottom of the page: https://zurl.co/lzOQ7 Blog & Sign-Up

09/10/2026

Good customer service is a tool.

A new NSPRA/Qualtrics study on K-12 customer experience offers some important takeaways for and : Trust, listening, consistency and follow-through matter.

We tell people, “If you see something, say something.” But what experience do they have when they actually say something?

My take on what this new research means for school safety leadership: https://zurl.co/vjBt6

09/09/2026

Strategic leadership is what keeps safety at the forefront when there is no crisis commanding everyone’s attention.

I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Jim Hanna years ago, and one thing has always been clear: He walks the walk when it comes to school safety leadership.

As Superintendent of Rossville Consolidated School District and Indiana’s 2026 School Safety Leader of the Year, Jim shares a superintendent’s perspective on what it means to keep safety strategically at the forefront every day, not just after an incident or when new funding appears.

His message is worth the attention of all : School safety is not a project to complete. It is a leadership responsibility renewed every day.

Read Dr. Hanna's guest article: School Safety Is Leadership: Keeping Safety at the Forefront Every Day https://zurl.co/NiNeD