School Safety Self-Assessment Tool Available To School Leaders

Oct 2, 2007 4:16 PM

CDW Government Inc. (CDW-G), a subsidiary of CDW Corp. and source of Information Technology (IT) solutions to governments and educators, has 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 ongoing 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 strengths, and four weaknesses:

Cyber Security Indicators
Data Monitoring
Network Access
User Authentication
Education
Student Protection

Physical Security Indicators
Building Access
Local Authority Communication
Education
Faculty Communication
Parental Communication

Cyber Security Contraindicators
IT Breaches
IT Barriers

Physical Security Contraindicators
Physical Breaches
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," says 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 copy of the survey report, visit cdwg.com/schoolsafetyindex.

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