The Virginia Tech Shootings
The mass slaying at the hands of a student gunman at Virginia Polytechnic Institute have revived vexing questions and raised familiar fears for K-12 educators across the country who grapple daily with ensuring the physical safety of their students and staff. Read Education Week’s coverage of the event and its aftermath. How has the tragedy affected you or your school? Have you seen any concrete changes over the past year? Does the anniversary carry any special meaning? Join our forum discussion. • Read more on our Violence and Safety resource page. • Read our TalkBack about the shooting.
Law & Courts
New Rules on School Privacy Law Proposed
The proposal would be the most comprehensive update of regulations for the main federal school privacy law in two decades.
School Climate & Safety
Spellings Offers Guidance to Help Clarify Privacy Law
The brochures for schools and parents seek to explain when concerns about a student may be shared.
School Climate & Safety
Role of Privacy Laws Scrutinized in Report on Va. Tech Tragedy
School staff members at all levels need more training on privacy laws affecting students, suggests a new report.
School Climate & Safety
3 Cabinet Members Seek Solutions on Campus Safety
A task force is looking for ways to more widely disseminate proven strategies for preventing and responding to school shootings.
Education
Chat
Student Mental Health: The School's Role
Our guests discussed the role of schools in monitoring and improving the mental health of troubled students.
School Climate & Safety
‘Copycatting’ May Produce More Threats
School leaders should brace for more of the kinds of threats that forced lockdowns and evacuations at campuses around the country last week after the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, experts warned.
School Climate & Safety
Virginia District Hit Hard by Graduate’s Killing Spree
When Tim Thomas took over as the principal of Westfield High School here this school year, he probably didn’t envision that fielding questions from the national media would be part of the job description.
School Climate & Safety
College Rampage Renews School Safety Concerns
The April 16 killings provoked the same questions that arose for K-12 officials after the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School and a string of other such incidents in the past decade: Could this happen at my school?
School Climate & Safety
In Wake of Va. Tech. Shootings, Threats Force K-12 Lock-Downs, Evacuations
Campus threats forced lock-downs and evacuations at middle schools, high schools, and universities in at least 10 states yesterday following the Monday shooting rampage at Virginia Tech that killed 33 people.
School Climate & Safety
Two Va. Tech. Victims Attended Same High School as Shooter
There was no information available from law enforcement on whether the suspected gunman knew the two women and singled them out.