American Priority Project • School Safety
Every school year brings new safety questions for administrators: Are our entry points still secure? Has our staff actually practiced the emergency plan, or just read it? Is our safety documentation strong enough to hold up if it's ever reviewed after an incident?
Below is the same framework our team uses in the field when we walk a campus for a formal School Safety Assessment — condensed into a checklist your team can use for an internal self-review before we ever set foot on site.
1. Physical Access & Entry Points
- All exterior doors are locked and monitored during instructional hours, with no propped-open exceptions.
- Visitors are funneled through a single, monitored main entrance with a check-in process.
- Perimeter fencing, gates, and lighting have been walked and tested within the last 12 months.
- Classroom doors can be locked from the inside without staff stepping into the hallway.
2. Emergency Plans & Drills
- Your Emergency Operations Plan has been updated within the past year, not just reprinted.
- Lockdown, fire, and severe weather drills have each been run at least once this year — and debriefed afterward.
- Substitute teachers and new hires receive emergency-procedure training before their first day alone with students.
- Reunification procedures for parents/guardians after an evacuation are documented and rehearsed.
3. Staff Training & Awareness
- All staff can name the three or four most likely emergency scenarios for your specific campus.
- A behavioral threat assessment team exists and meets on a regular schedule, not just after an incident.
- Front office and campus security staff are trained on de-escalation, not just detection.
4. Technology & Communication
- Mass-notification systems have been tested with a live message within the last quarter.
- Camera coverage includes all entry points and blind-spot areas identified in your last review.
- Visitor management software (if used) is actually being used consistently, campus-wide.
5. Documentation
- Assessment reports, drill logs, and incident reports are stored in a way that can be retrieved quickly — and would hold up under legal review.
- Corrective actions from your last safety review have an owner and a completion date, not just a note in a file.
This checklist reflects the same standard John Nain, MS, CSP applies when auditing school campuses in the field. Meet our team →
What to Do With This Checklist
If you can confidently check every box above, you're ahead of most schools we walk onto for the first time. If a few items gave you pause, that's exactly what a formal assessment is for — a structured, outside review that turns "we think we're fine" into a documented, defensible safety program.
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