Schools that are safe create conditions for learning and well-being. Drawing on research and best practices, the California School Safety Toolkit allows any school or district to assess its safety system. Districts and schools can use the toolkit to improve how schools use data, apply best practices in school safety, engage students, promote a healthy school environment and reduce the use of exclusionary discipline and referrals to law enforcement that disproportionately impact students of color.

Piloted in two California school districts–San Francisco and Vallejo City–during the 2015-2016 school year, the toolkit builds from the school discipline guidance package jointly issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education in 2014. It highlights the school safety research base and uses eight practical tools to take a holistic approach to assessing the readiness to implement school safety best practices, school climate, discipline and achievement, student staff and family engagement, school policies, staff practices, allocation of resources, and community conditions.

AIR researchers worked with schools in California to create the toolkit, a universal outcome-based framework and methods for assessing and improving school safety plans funded by the Zellerbach Family Foundation and in partnership with Public Counsel.

Watch a webinar that includes an overview of the toolkit and interviews with school leaders who have used it: