Hello School Safety Leaders,
October: Six Weeks In - Look at the Building, then Look at Who Belongs
Six weeks in, the newness has worn off. Schedules have settled, routines are set, and by now every student has figured out where they fit in your building, or where they don’t. That makes October the right time for a second look.
This month I’ve been talking with district safety leaders about site assessments: walking a campus with fresh eyes. A good site assessment looks for two things. The first is physical safety: sightlines, entries, lighting, and the spaces no one quite owns. The second is psychological safety: where students feel safe in your building, and where they don’t. So as you walk, ask a second set of questions. Where do students gather, and who is missing? Which hallway, lunch table, or bus stop do some kids avoid?
Those answers matter even more this month, because the places students avoid are often the places where bullying happens. October is National Bullying Prevention Month and its is a good time to ask three more questions. Are we teaching our students to be upstanders, not bystanders? Are we showing them exactly how to report what they see, and what happens after they do? And are our trusted adults truly available: visible in the hallways, at lunch, and at the bus stop, the places where students need them most?
Put the walk and those questions together and you have the full picture. A site assessment tells us whether a building is secure. Belonging tells us whether students feel safe inside it. We need both. To help you get started, here is a simple guide for your next walk.
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Site Assessment Made Simple |
Site Assessment 101: A Walk Anyone Can Do
You don’t need to be an expert to spot what matters. Grab a colleague, a clipboard, and 45 minutes. Walk your campus the way a visitor, a student, and a stranger would.
Before you start
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- Walk at different times: arrival, lunch, dismissal, and after dark.
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Bring someone who doesn’t work in the building. Fresh eyes see more.
- Take photos so you can show what you found.
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- Can you tell where the property starts? Fences, signs, and landscaping should mark it.
- Is the main entrance obvious, or do visitors wander to other doors?
- Can staff see the parking lot, drop off area, and bus loop from inside?
- Are bushes trimmed low and tree branches high, so no one can hide?
- Do lights work, and are there dark corners near doors or walkways?
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- Are exterior doors closed and locked? Look for props, rocks, and taped latches.
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Do visitors have to pass the front office before reaching students?
- Is there one clear way in during the school day?
- Is there a buzzer, camera, or window so staff can see who’s at the door?
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- Do classroom doors lock from the inside, and do they actually latch?
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Can staff see down hallways, or are there blind corners and alcoves?
- Are unused rooms, closets, and stairwells locked?
- Are restrooms and locker rooms checked regularly?
- Can everyone hear an announcement from every space, including the gym, portables, and playground?
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- Where do students gather before and after school, and is an adult there?
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Which hallways, restrooms, lunch tables, or bus stops do some kids avoid?
- Where are adults during passing periods, lunch, and dismissal?
- Do students know at least one adult they would go to with a problem?
- Do students know how to report a concern, and do they believe something will happen?
- Ask a few students: “Where do you feel safe here? Where don’t you?”
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Write down what you found, even the small stuff.
- Sort it into fix now, fix soon, and plan for later.
- Assign each item a name and a date.
- Walk again in the spring to see what changed.
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Want a deeper guide? Email me at emohiuddin@nwesd.org for the NWESD 189 Site Assessment Tool, built on CPTED and CISA guidance.
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New Resources on Online Child Exploitation
Homeland Security Investigations have shared new handouts from NetSmartz, the online safety program of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Please read the tip sheet on Sadistic Online Exploitation (SOE) and AI & Child Safety Online: A Guide for Educators, and share them with your counselors, administrators, SROs, SSOs, and anyone else in your building who works with students on online safety.
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Don’t name the groups. The SOE tip sheet warns adults against naming SOE groups when talking with students. Kids may search for them online, and offenders can use that to find and groom them.
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Where to report. Suspected online exploitation can be reported to NCMEC’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678, in addition to following your district’s reporting procedures, reporting to local law enforcement and mandatory reporting requirements.
- A parent version. NetSmartz also publishes AI & Child Safety Online: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers, so schools can send families a matching handout.
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The Great ShakeOut - Are you Ready? |
October 15, at 10:15 a.m., schools across our region will join the Great Washington ShakeOut and practice drop, cover, and hold on. It can serve as your October drill, and it meets the earthquake drill requirement in state law. RCW 28A.320.125 asks schools to hold at least one safety drill every month and to record the date, time, and type of each one. That record keeps you compliant. What makes you better is the next step:
A drill you document is how your plan improves..
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- taking ten minutes afterward to write down what went right,
- what went wrong, and what you will change before the next drill.
- who didn’t hear the announcement?
- which room had nowhere to take cover?
- how long did it take to account for every student?
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A drill you don’t debrief is just practice. A drill you document is how your plan improves..
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HIB Updates Modules for 2026-27 |
OSPI provides an asynchronous training course via Canvas that meets the mandatory training requirement for District HIB Compliance Officers in RCW 28A.600.477. This course is also valuable for school administrators or others who are responsible for responding to and supporting the investigation of HIB incidents.
To Access the HIB Modules:
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OSPI has updated its model student handbook language for the 2026–27 school year. In addition to minor revisions to improve clarity for students and families, the model language also includes new information on the willful noncompliance complaint process, as required in ESHB 1296, and the ESB 5272 safety protections at school activities and events.
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Mark your calendar. Bring your questions. Make time to Thrive! This year, participants can earn one clock hour for each session attended.
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Emergency Operations Planning Support |
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SchoolSafetyGov is the official account of School Safety.gov. Likes, links, reposts, followers & endorsements.
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Erum Mohiuddin she/her
emohiuddin@nwesd.org
Comprehensive School Safety Coordinator
Northwest Educational Service District 189
360-299-4006
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