The Minneapolis, Minn. Board of Education is "quietly" hiring "public safety support specialists" (PSSS) after the Board unanimously voted in June to cancel its contract with the Minneapolis Police Department in response to the killing of George Floyd.
U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter (CO) and Stephanie Murphy (FL) announced the approval, by the powerful House Appropriations Committee, of $1 million for independent experts to publish a study on the potential mental health effects of active shooter drills in elementary and secondary schools.
Very few of 2,000 school children and teachers tested in the German state of Saxony showed antibodies to COVID-19, a study has found, suggesting schools may not play as big a role in spreading the virus as some had feared.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that shootings at K-12 schools most commonly resulted from disputes or grievances, for example, between students or staff, or between gangs, although the specific characteristics of school shootings over the past 10 years varied widely, according to GAO's analysis of the Naval Postgraduate School's K-12 School Shooting Database.
Los Angeles School Police Department Deputy Chief Leslie Ramirez has been named interim chief of the department, following Chief Todd Chamberlain’s resignation.
As some schools begin to reopen and others start planning for next year, student and staff safety need to remain top of mind, and administrators need the right solutions in place to keep risks of all kinds at bay. However, these solutions must be flexible and able to adapt to changing circumstances, while still executing clear communication and quick response to reduce school safety risks.
The Denver Board of Education voted to reduce the number of police officers assigned to schools by 25% by the end of the calendar year and to end its partnership with the Denver Police Department.
