School Safety Self-Assessment Tool Available to School Leaders

CDW Government Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of CDW Corporation and leading source of Information Technology (IT) solutions to governments and educators, today published its School Safety Index Self-Assessment Tool, which allows school leaders to participate in CDW-G's School Safety Index survey and receive instant scores to learn how their school or district compares to the national school safety average CDW-G reported in June. The School Safety Index published in June is based on a May 2007 survey of 381 school district IT and security directors on 14 elements of physical and cyber safety. It highlights the indicators of strong district safety programs, as well as the barriers to school safety.  Key findings of the School Safety Index included:

• Need for improved and on-going cyber safety curriculum for students at all grade levels. Currently just 8 percent of districts have such programs
• Need for better faculty and parental emergency communication tools. Only 1 percent of districts reported that they are considering mass notification systems
• Tech-savvy students frustrate IT staffs by side-stepping security measures, such as firewalls, to access unapproved Web sites

The CDW-G School Safety Self-Assessment Tool scores schools and districts on 10 safety indicators, or strengths, and four contraindicators, or weaknesses:

 

• Cyber Security Indicators Physical Security Indicators
• Data Monitoring Building Access
• Network Access Local Authority Communication
• User Authentication Education
• Education Faculty Communication
• Student Protection Parental Communication

 

• Cyber Security Contra-indicators Physical Security Contra-indicators
• IT Breaches Physical Breaches
• IT Barriers Physical Barriers

 

"The CDW-G School Safety Index and assessment tool enable parents and school leaders to understand how they can improve the security of the learning environment," said Bob Kirby, senior director, K-12, CDW-G. "We want the index to spark discussion in the community and encourage everyone - students, parents and educators - to play an active role in strengthening the safety and security of our schools."

 
The CDW-G School Safety Index Self-Assessment Tool is online at www.schoolsafetyindex.com. For a complete copy of the survey report, please visit www.cdwg.com/schoolsafetyindex.