Public School Safety

Introduction

Every year, the tragic loss of a child or teen to suicide reminds schools, families and communities of the urgent need for thoughtful, coordinated prevention efforts. While the focus of this article is K-12 school settings (including boarding schools), the lessons apply broadly to any educational environment where young people spend significant time. Our goal is to equip parents, educators and students with current evidence, policy context, practical steps and real-world examples to prevent suicide in schools.

The Scope of the Problem in 2025

Recent data show that youth suicide and suicidal ideation remain serious challenges. According to the Jed Foundation, 40% of high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year.
Among high school students, 20.4% reported seriously considering suicide in the past year; overall, 9.5% attempted suicide.
At the national level, the age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States was 14.12 per 100,000 in 2023.
In 2024, some states experienced alarming surges: for example, in Georgia youth suicides rose by 70% in one year.
These figures illustrate that suicide remains the second-leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults ages 10–34.
Schools are therefore a frontline environment for prevention, since students spend much of their day there, and many warning signs may present within the educational setting.

Why Schools Matter – and What to Focus On

In the school setting, prevention efforts must address multiple dimensions: promoting protective factors, identifying risk indicators early, ensuring timely

How Public Schools Are Responding to Chronic Absenteeism Post-Pandemic

Chronic absenteeism—typically defined as missing 10% or more of school days—has emerged as one of the most persistent challenges for public schools in the post-pandemic era. After spiking during COVID-19, rates have remained elevated, prompting school districts nationwide to renew strategies to reengage students.

This article examines how public schools are confronting chronic absenteeism today: the strategies in use, early outcomes, remaining obstacles, and promising innovations to watch.

The Post-Pandemic Landscape: Why Schools Are Still Wrestling With Absences Elevated Rates and Uneven Recovery

• In the 2024–25 school year, chronic absenteeism in many districts remained above pre-pandemic levels, with some urban districts reporting 30% or more of students missing 10%+ of days. RAND Corporation

• According to AEI data, absenteeism fell modestly (to ~23.5%) in recent years, but still hovers well above the ~15% pre-COVID benchmark.

• Some districts are improving, but many are not on pace to return to pre-pandemic norms, especially in high-poverty or urban settings. The 74 Million

Why Does It Persist?

Schools and researchers cite multiple interlocking causes:

1. Habits and norms shifted during the pandemic
   Some students and families adapted to looser structures, remote learning flexibility, or more lenient attendance enforcement, making reentry to rigid in-class

How Well Are Public Schools Adapting to Your Child’s Learning Style?

Introduction

For years, educators have recognized that children learn in different ways—visually, auditorily, through movement, or through reading and writing. Today, more than ever, schools are expected to adapt to these diverse learning styles. In 2025, however, research also cautions against rigid “style matching.” This article examines current trends in how public schools are addressing the challenge with clarity and a forward-thinking mindset.

The Changing View: Learning Styles—Myth or Motivation?

While the concept of learning styles remains influential among educators and parents, recent scholarship emphasizes that rigid matching to a preferred style doesn’t necessarily boost academic outcomes. A clear overview of this controversy can be found on a University of Michigan resource questioning the learning-styles myth.(Online Teaching)

At the same time, flexible and inclusive learning remains essential. A 2024 study published in ScienceDirect demonstrates that differentiated instruction—customizing content, assessments, and methods—boosts engagement and learning.(ScienceDirect)

What’s New in 2025: Adaptive Teaching in Practice AI and Personalized Learning Tools

Personalized learning technology is expanding rapidly. As of 2025, the AI education market is valued at $7.57 billion and is projected to skyrocket in coming years.(engageli.com)

These technologies—including adaptive platforms like Squirrel AI or Microsoft’s Reading Coach—enable educators to tailor instruction based on individual student needs and performance patterns.(Digital Learning Institute)

Flexible Learning Environments

Schools increasingly

School Safety: Shootings

As I began my research for this article on school shootings, I thought it best to look at the history of shootings in American schools. I expected the timeline to cover the 19th and 20th centuries, but I wasn't prepared to discover that the first shootings dated back to the 1700s.

• First, read K12 Academics' History of School Shootings in the United States. That article covers from colonial days through to 2010.
• Then, to take us up to 2015 read Maria Esther Hammack's A Brief History of Mass Shootings. Reporting in the New York Times, Christine Hauser's article A Partial List Of Mass Shootings In 2022 chronicles the first five months of 2022.

Having documented shootings, let us look at what you and I can do to keep our children safe in schools at every level.

Inspired by past school shooters, some perpetrators are seeking fame and notoriety. However, most school shooters are motivated by a generalized anger. Their path to violence involves self-hate and despair turned outward at the world, and our research finds they often communicate their intent to do harm in advance as a final, desperate cry for help. The key to stopping these tragedies is for society to be alert to these warning signs and act on them immediately. from What we know about mass school shootings

The hurricane that ripped through the Northeast October 22 through November 2, 2012, left a trail of destruction that impacted every aspect of the lives of the residents there, including the children. Many students and teachers were left without a school to return to since the storm-ravaged school buildings to the point where they were not considered inhabitable. In addition to the challenges of the storm clean-up, schools that were currently being used as shelters had to find a way to allow students and strangers to live together harmoniously, at least for a short period of time. How did schools recover from unprecedented Hurricane Sandy? Very slowly, in some areas.

This video describes how Storm Sandy evolved.

Challenges Schools Faced

To understand the many challenges facing schools that were in the path of Hurricane Sandy, the Wall Street Journal went inside the thought process of one of New Jersey’s superintendents. Dr. James A. Crisfield, the superintendent of Milburn Township Public Schools, explained to the publication that many factors had to be considered before children could be allowed back into schools, including:

• Electricity - Many schools were still without power and they could not reopen until electricity was back on.
• Gasoline – Gasoline shortages across the region made it difficult to get sufficient emergency personnel and school buses running. In addition, faculty and administration were unable to make it to school due to fuel shortages.
• Damage