Final Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety (PDF)

FINAL REPORT OF THE FEDERAL COMMISSION ON

School Safety

Presented to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

December 18, 2018

Disclaimer

Since the horrific February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the Trump Administration has devoted considerable time, resources, and effort to studying ways to keep our students safe and our schools secure. The Federal Commission on School Safety was designed to both research and recommend solutions to advance the safety of our schools. The Commission's observations and recommendations are contained in this report.

The Commission recognizes that the problem of school violence is long-standing and complex and that there are certain limits to what the federal government can do. This Commission was not established to provide a single solution to this problem, nor did the Commissioners set out to mandate uniform policy to every community. In fact, it is our considered belief that doing so would prove counterproductive. There can be no "one-size-fits-all" approach for an issue this complex.

The shooting in Parkland, FL, was not the first of its kind, nor is it likely to be the last. This does not mean we should give up on doing all we can to minimize the chances that something like that could happen again.

In the pages that follow, the Commission makes recommendations that address multiple aspects of school safety. It does so based on the insights, experiences, and expertise of a wide range of individuals. The recommendations are predicated on the policies already working in state and local communities. They outline steps we all can take--families, communities, schools, houses of worship, law enforcement, medical professionals, government, and others.

Each of us has a role to play in improving the safety of our students and the security of our schools. Only by working together can we help prevent future tragedies and, when those incidents do occur, mitigate their effects and continue to learn from them.

The U.S. Departments of Education, Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services do not mandate or prescribe practices, models, or other activities in this document. This report contains examples of, adaptations of, and links to resources created and maintained by other public and private organizations. This information, informed by research and gathered in part from practitioners, is provided for the reader's convenience and is included here to offer examples of the

many resources that educators, parents, advocates, administrators, and other concerned parties may find helpful and use at their discretion. The Departments do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. Further, the inclusion of links to items and examples does not reflect their importance, nor are they intended to represent or be an endorsement by the Commission or any of its members, any federal agency or department, or the U.S. Government of any views expressed, or materials provided.

This document has no force or effect of law and does not create any additional requirements for the public beyond those included in applicable laws and regulations; nor does it create any additional rights for any person, entity, or organization. Implementation of the practices identified in this guide is purely voluntary, and no federal agency will take any action against schools that do not adopt them.

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Federal Commission on School Safety: Prevent

Letter of Transmittal

December 18, 2018

The President The White House Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Our nation's schools must be safe places to learn. Sadly, incidents of school violence are too common in the United States, and far too many families and communities have suffered.

Following the school shooting in Parkland, FL, you established the Federal Commission on School Safety. You tasked the Commission with producing a report of policy recommendations in an effort to help prevent future tragedies.

Our work included field visits, listening sessions, and meetings with anyone and everyone who is focused on identifying and elevating solutions. After learning from students, parents, teachers, school safety personnel, law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, and others who play a role in keeping students safe, we have developed recommendations for leaders at the local, state, and federal levels. Our key observations and recommendations are included in this report. Our goal has been to identify local, state, and federal policy for lawmakers and local officials to consider. The report's recommendations can assist states and local communities in preventing school violence and improving recovery efforts following an incident.

There is no universal school safety plan that will work for every school across the country. Such a prescriptive approach by the federal government would be inappropriate, imprudent, and ineffective. We focused instead on learning more about, and then raising awareness of, ideas that are already working for communities across the country. That is why the Commission's work and recommendations focus on a variety of school sizes, structures, and geographic locations.

The federal government can play a role in enhancing safety in schools. However, state legislators should work with local school leaders, teachers, parents, and students themselves to address their own unique challenges and develop their own specific solutions. What may work in one community may or may not be the right approach in another. Each local problem needs local solutions. Rather than mandate what schools must do, this report serves to identify options that policymakers should explore.

Ultimately, ensuring the safety of our children begins within ourselves, at the kitchen table, in houses of worship, and in community centers. The recommendations within this report do not and cannot supplant the role families have in our culture and in the lives of children. Our country's moral fabric needs more threads of love, empathy, and connection.

Together with states, local communities, and families, we can all continue working to uphold our promise to keep students safe as they pursue their futures at school.

Sincerely,

Betsy DeVos, Secretary U.S. Department of Education Chair, Federal Commission on School Safety

Kirstjen M. Nielsen, Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Alex M. Azar II, Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Matthew Whitaker, Acting Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice

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Federal Commission on School Safety

Table of Contents

Background................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Executive Summary................................................................................................................................................... 13

Section 1: Prevent 1. Character Development and a Culture of Connectedness......................................................................... 17 2. Cyberbullying and School Safety................................................................................................................. 23 3. Curating a Healthier and Safer Approach: Issues of Mental Health and Counseling for Our Young......... 27 4. Integrating Mental Health, Primary Care, Family Services, and Court-Ordered Treatment..................... 37 5. Using Suspicious Activity Reporting and Threat Assessments to Enhance School Safety....................... 49 6. Effects of Press Coverage of Mass Shootings.............................................................................................. 59 7. Violent Entertainment and Rating Systems................................................................................................ 63 8. The Obama Administration's "Rethink School Discipline" Guidance........................................................ 67 9. The Effectiveness and Appropriateness of Psychotropic Medication for Treatment of Troubled Youth... 75 10. The Efficacy of Age Restrictions for Firearm Purchases.............................................................................. 85 11. Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws........................................................................................................... 89 12. Improvements to the FBI's Public Access Line............................................................................................ 97

Section 2: Protect and Mitigate 13. Training School Personnel to Help Ensure Student Safety....................................................................... 101 14. Emergency and Crisis Training for Law Enforcement............................................................................... 109 15. The Transition of Military Veterans and Retired Law Enforcement Officers into New Careers in Education.......................................................................................................................... 113 16. Best Practices for School Building Security.............................................................................................. 119 17. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Other Statutory and Regulatory Privacy Protections................................................................................................................. 129 18. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Other Statutory and Regulatory Privacy Protections.......................................................................................................... 135

Section 3: Respond and Recover 19. Active Shooter Preparedness and Mitigation............................................................................................ 141

Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................. 155

Appendix A................................................................................................................................................................. 157

Appendix B................................................................................................................................................................ 177

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Background

Decades of Problems

On February 14, 2018, a former student walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, and began firing. He murdered 17 people, and wounded many more.

Three months later, a shooter at Santa Fe High School in Texas murdered 10 people. These successive school shootings are two tragedies on a ledger that now spans decades.

School violence has been a persistent problem in the United States. For example, on January 29, 1979, a 16-year-old opened fire on Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, CA. She killed two adults and wounded eight students and one police officer, for seemingly no reason at all.

In each decade since, we have experienced tragedies of this kind. In the 1980s, communities across the country suffered from school killings--in Alabama and Nevada, in Missouri and Kansas, in Washington, North Carolina, Michigan, and Virginia.

The incidents continued during the 1990s. The decade culminated in a shooting in Littleton, CO--now known as the Columbine High School Massacre. On April 20, 1999, two shooters killed 13 fellow students and

wounded 21 before taking their own lives. Virginia Tech came eight years later, with the death toll at 32. At Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, a shooter claimed 26 lives.

These are not just numbers. These are lives that were tragically cut short.

A Tragic Chronology The following list of school violence incidents is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to illustrate the breadth of the problem.

January 29, 1979 Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, CA--two adults killed, eight students and one police officer wounded

October 31, 1980 Hueytown High School in Hueytown, AL--one student wounded, shooter takes his own life

March 19, 1982 Valley High School in Las Vegas, NV--one teacher killed, two students wounded

January 20, 1983 Parkway South Junior High in St. Louis, MO--one student killed, one wounded, shooter takes his own life

January 21, 1985 Goddard Junior High School in Goddard, KS--school principal killed, two teachers and one student wounded

November 27, 1985 Spanaway Junior High School in Spanaway, WA--two students killed, shooter takes her own life

May 9, 1986

Pine Forest High School in Fayetteville, NC--three students wounded, one critically

April 17, 1987

Murray Wright High School in Detroit, MI--one student killed, two wounded

December 16, 1988 Atlantic Shores Christian School in Virginia Beach, VA--two teachers shot, one fatally

January 17, 1989 Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, CA--five students killed, 29 others wounded, shooter takes his own life

February 2, 1996 Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake, WA--one teacher and two students killed, another student wounded

October 1, 1997 Pearl High School in Pearl, MS--shooter kills his mother then kills two classmates and injures seven others

December 1, 1997 Heath High School in West Paducah, KY--three students killed and five others wounded

March 24, 1998 Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, AR--four students and one teacher killed, 11 others wounded

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April 20, 1999

Columbine High School in Littleton, CO--13 students killed and 21 wounded, shooters take their own lives

March 25, 2001 Santana High School in Santee, CA--two students killed and 13 wounded

December 5, 2001 Springfield High School in Springfield, MA--school counselor killed

April 14, 2003

John McDonogh Senior High School in New Orleans, LA--one student killed and three wounded

September 24, 2003 Rocori High School in Cold Spring, MN--two students killed

March 21, 2005

Red Lake High School in Red Lake, MN--after killing his grandparents, shooter kills five students, a teacher, and an unarmed security guard

April 16, 2007

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA--shooter kills 32 people, takes his own life

February 27, 2012 Chardon High School in Chardon, OH--three students killed and two wounded

December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT--shooter kills his mother, 20 students, and six adults before taking his own life

October 21, 2013 Sparks Middle School in Sparks, NV--shooter kills a teacher, wounds two classmates, and takes his own life

December 13, 2013 Arapahoe High School in Centennial, CO--one student killed, shooter takes his own life

May 27, 2014

University of California Santa Barbara, CA--six students killed, 14 wounded, shooter takes his own life

June 10, 2014

Reynolds High School in Troutdale, OR--one student killed, one teacher wounded, shooter takes his own life

October 24, 2014 Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, WA--four students killed and a fifth critically wounded

April 10, 2017

North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, CA--one teacher and one student killed, one student wounded, shooter takes his own life

January 23, 2018 Marshall County High School in Benton, KY--two students killed, 18 other people wounded

February 14, 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL--14 students and three teachers killed

May 18, 2018

Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, TX--eight students and two teachers killed, 10 others wounded

Establishment and Operation of the Federal Commission on School Safety

On March 12, 2018, President Donald Trump established the Federal Commission on School Safety to review safety practices and make meaningful and actionable recommendations of best practices to keep students safe. Members of the Commission include Secretary Betsy DeVos of the U.S. Department of Education ("ED"), Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker of the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") (succeeding former Attorney General Jeff Sessions), Secretary Alex Azar II of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), and Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS").

To inform its work the Commission held a series of meetings, field visits, and listening sessions. Commission meetings provided a forum to hear from key stakeholders such as school safety experts, educators, and other concerned citizens. Field visits involved travel to schools by Commission members and staff to observe and learn firsthand about current practices in

school safety. Listening sessions occurred around the country and provided the opportunity for the Commission to receive input directly from members of the general public. Parents, students, teachers, counselors, psychologists, administrators, and many others presented statements at these sessions. In addition to hearing from the public, most listening sessions included one or two separate roundtable discussions with state and local officials including Governors, State School Chiefs, law enforcement leadership, mental health representatives, and others.

The Commission held an organizational meeting on March 28, 2018. On May 17, 2018, the Department of Education hosted several families directly impacted by past school shootings, as well as authors of key reports. Full Commission meetings, field visits, and listening sessions began on May 31, 2018, and ended on August 28, 2018. (See page 7 for details of Commission events.) The Commission held four formal meetings, four field visits, and four listening sessions. Responsibilities for planning and carrying out the meetings and field visits were shared by each of the four depart-

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