COVID-19 Guidance
• What Schools Need to Know •
New School Safety Resources
Creating a Safe and Connected School Climate for American Indian Students
Creating a Safe and Connected School Climate for American Indian Students: Guidance for Montana Schools Developed with Montana Students: A positive school climate, where students feel safe and connected, is critically important to academic success as well as emotional wellbeing. However, very little research and literature exists to guide schools on how to create a positive school climate for American Indian students. The recommendations featured in this guide are informed by the research literature that is available as well as the lived experiences of a group of Montana Urban American Indian students.
Creating School and Community Partnerships
To support students, families, and school staff a school may consider developing a partnership with an organization operating within the community. The video below outlines why and how a school can form a partnerships with a community organization and how to create a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize the partnership. To support school and community partnerships, we have also created:
- A sample memorandum of understanding (MOU)
- A memorandum of understanding (MOU) google doc template
Allowable Uses of ESSER III Funding to Support School Safety: Quick guide of allowable uses of ESSER III funding schools may consider implementing to support the safety of students, families, and school staff
School Safety Professional Development Grants can provide up to $10,000 for training for Montana school district staff on school safety topics including violence prevention and emergency operations planning. These competitive grants are will open spring/summer 2022 for the 2022-23 school year. Visit the webpage to learn more.
Behavioral Approach to Violence Prevention: This document displays common threating and concerning behaviors and the degree of concern each behavior may indicate.
Strategies for Promoting Educator and Student Safety and Wellness During Online Learning: Information on available resources and strategies schools can implement to promote safety and wellness during online learning.
Mitigating the Threat of School Violence as the U.S. "Returns to Normal" from the COVID-Pandemic and Beyond: Guidance from the Department of Homeland Security to raise awareness of the risk factors associated with school violence and resources to prevent these incidents from occurring.
How to Use this Site
The Safety Resource pages below contain additional information and resource to support school safety. Below is a menu to help you navigate quickly to find the information you are looking for:
- Emergency Operations Planning: Here you will find guidance and resources for developing a school emergency operations plan. It's recommended schools start here and use the plan to inform other school safety measures such as carrying out disaster dills and providing training and professional development.
- Responses to Emergency Situations: On this page you will find guidance and resources for responding to an emergency after it has occurred.
- Drills and Exercises: Here you will find tools and resources for developing and carrying out disaster drills and other exercises to help prepare for, prevent and mitigate emergency situations. It's recommended that schools use their emergency operations plan to guide decision-making around conducting disaster drills and providing training.
- Professional Development: This page was designed to help schools find training and professional development they may need to increase school safety. It's recommended schools use their emergency operations plan to guide decision-making around professional development and training.
- Resources: Here you will find an alphabetical list of many school safety resources and other websites to help you get the school safety information your school may be seeking.
- School Violence Prevention: This page contains strategies and information specific to preventing acts of violence in a school.
- Essential School Safety Actions: Here you will find the top ten recommended actions for Montana schools to take to increase school safety.