‘Safe Schools’ guide updates anti-bullying strategies
Published: November 1, 2011
To give governing boards the tools they need to ensure their schools are safe and secure so students can focus on learning, CSBA has released “Safe Schools: Strategies for Governing Boards to Ensure Student Success,” an updated edition of the safe schools guide CSBA first published in 1994.
The new guide, written with guidance from members of CSBA’s School Health Advisory Committee, has a particular focus on preventing bullying and harassment, including ensuring that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students feel safe and welcome on campus. Research shows that these students are far more likely than other students to experience bullying, and this handbook includes guidance on how to craft policies that support and encourage establishment of positive school climates. Also new to this edition is a section on cyberbullying—harassment via social media such as Facebook—which CSBA’s 2011-12 Policy Platform addressed for the first time.
The guide includes chapters on the governing board’s role in creating a safe school environment, prevention strategies to ensure students feel safe, and intervention strategies to guide boards if problems arise.
“It’s our hope that this resource guide provides governing boards and superintendents with the tools needed to create positive school environments, where students feel safe, supported, connected to others and prepared to learn,” said Martin Gonzalez, CSBA’s assistant executive director for financial programs and policy services. “We wish to acknowledge the work of CSBA’s School Health Advisory Committee and many others as their input and insight proved invaluable. We also wish to express our sincere gratitude to the Ford Foundation for the funding that made this project possible.”
By and large, school campuses are safer than the communities in which they are located, and violent crime has declined over the past two decades. However, bullying continues to be a persistent problem, and significant percentages of children report they’ve been harassed by classmates at school. Creating a safe school environment free from bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence will allow all students to attend school, be engaged in the classroom and ready to learn.
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