School Safety Glossary
K-12 school safety comes with its own vocabulary, from legal terms like Alyssa’s Law and NIMS to technical terms like PSAP and LoRa network. This glossary defines the terms, acronyms, and frameworks school leaders, safety directors, and educators encounter most often, organized alphabetically for quick reference.
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504 Plan
A 504 Plan provides accommodations, such as extended test time or preferential seating, so a student with a disability can fully access the general education curriculum. Established under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, it differs from an IEP because it provides accommodations rather than specialized instruction.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
A national hotline that connects callers and texters with trained crisis counselors for suicide prevention and mental health emergencies, available 24/7 by calling or texting 988.
741741 Crisis Text Line
A free, 24/7 text-based crisis support service for those who need help or for those concerned about someone else in crisis. Texting HOME to 741741 connects any person with a trained volunteer Crisis Counselor for support with anxiety, depression, bullying, and suicidal thoughts.
A
Access Control
Systems and procedures, such as locked doors, badge readers, and visitor screening, that regulate who can enter a school campus or building.
Active Shooter
Someone who is actively attempting to hurt and/or kill people with the use of a gun.
After-Action Report (AAR)
A structured review completed after a drill or real incident that documents what happened, what worked, and what should improve in future response. After-action reviews should include school and first responders for a meaningful review that documents future improvements.
ALICE
ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. It’s a training program that teaches staff and students proactive options for responding to an active shooter rather than a single, fixed response. Unlike a strict-lockdown-only approach, ALICE trains people to assess the situation and choose the safest action possible.
Alyssa’s Law
Alyssa’s Law refers to bills passed at the state level that require or recommend schools implement silent panic alert systems that connect directly to 911 or Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) for a faster response by local law enforcement and emergency personnel. The bill is named in honor of Alyssa Alhadeff, a victim of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy in Parkland, Florida.
American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act
The American Rescue Plan Act was one of three COVID-19 relief acts, alongside CARES and CRRSA, passed to help schools recover from the pandemic. All three included ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds for K-12 schools. ESSER funding is now closed to new allocations, with only final liquidation of previously obligated funds continuing through early 2026.
American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund
The ARP ESSER fund set aside $122 billion to help schools safely reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic, covering expenses like health screening tools, addressing learning loss, and supporting student mental wellbeing during the return from isolation. Districts were required to obligate ARP ESSER funds by September 2024, and the program is now closed to new spending.
American School Counselor Association (ASCA)
A professional association for school counselors that publishes the ASCA National Model, a widely adopted framework schools use to design and evaluate their counseling programs, along with recommended caseload ratios and ethical standards for the profession. ASCA also sponsors National School Counseling Week.
Anonymous Tip Reporting
An online system that allows students, staff, or community members to report safety concerns or potential threats without revealing their identity.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
Applied Behavioral Analysis is a type of therapy where a child works one-on-one with a practitioner that focuses on improving social skills, reading, academics, and learning skills, such as hygiene, grooming, and punctuality.
The Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP)
The Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP) was founded in 1992 as a non-profit organization comprised of law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health professionals, corporate security experts, probation and parole personnel and others involved in threat and violence risk assessment.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that can affect how a person communicates, processes sensory input, and interacts with others. In a school safety context, sensory sensitivities to alarms, sirens, or physical contact, along with differences in communication, mean students, staff, and visitors with ASD may need individualized accommodations during drills, lockdowns, and evacuations.
Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
A calculation of the average number of students present each school day over a given period, often used by states to determine school funding.
B
Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM)
BTAM is a systematic, evidence-based process schools use to identify, assess, and manage individuals who may pose a threat. Assessment distinguishes between someone making a threat and someone posing one, while management involves building an ongoing intervention plan to reduce risk and support the individual. This dual focus is why current guidance from groups like NASP and the National Threat Assessment Center favors the fuller term over “BTA” alone.
BJA STOP
The Bureau of Justice Assistance’s STOP School Violence Program, a federal grant that funds training, technology, and threat assessment resources to prevent school violence.
Blended Learning
A combination of instructor-led learning (synchronous) which can be in-person or virtual and student-led learning (asynchronous) which is typically conducted online.
Bullying
Bullying is aggressive, unwanted behavior among students that goes beyond teasing and is intended to cause emotional and/or physical harm. All states have anti-bullying policies in place, and schools must prioritize programs to prevent bullying, which begins with awareness about what bullying is and how to address the behaviors causing inappropriate actions.
C
Campus Movement
Campus movement is the awareness and management of who is on campus, why they’re there, and where they’re authorized to be from arrival to departure. This spans visitor and volunteer screening, digital hall passes, dismissal, and event access, giving school leaders the real-time visibility needed to fulfill their duty of care.
Charter Schools
Charter schools are publicly funded schools that operate independently of the local school district under a charter, or performance contract, that grants them more flexibility over curriculum and operations in exchange for meeting specific academic and accountability goals. Like traditional public schools, charter schools are tuition-free and open to all students, often through a lottery when demand exceeds available seats.
Chronic Absenteeism
When a student misses 10 percent or more of the school year for any reason, a measure schools use to identify students at risk of falling behind.
Columbine High School Shooting
On April 20, 1999, two students carried out a shooting and attempted bombing at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 students and one teacher. The incident is widely considered a turning point in school safety, prompting the development of many of the lockdown protocols, safety drills, and threat assessment practices used in schools today.
Competitive Grant
A grant awarded through a competitive review process, where schools submit applications that are evaluated against other applicants for a limited pool of funding. Unlike formula grants, an application isn’t guaranteed funding just by qualifying — it has to compete on how well it aligns with the program’s priorities.
Compulsory Attendance Age
The age range during which state law requires children to be enrolled in school, which varies from state to state.
Contagion
Contagion is a phenomenon in which media coverage or public attention around one act of violence or suicide increases the likelihood of similar incidents occurring shortly after, particularly among individuals already at risk. Unlike the Copycat Effect, which involves deliberately imitating a specific prior attack, contagion refers to the broader pattern of clustering that can follow high-profile violence.
Copycat Effect
The tendency for an individual to imitate a specific prior act of violence, often in the days or weeks immediately following extensive media coverage of that incident. Copycat attackers may reference, study, or attempt to replicate the details of the original event, which is one reason school safety experts advise against naming or sensationalizing perpetrators in public communications.
CPOMS
Child Protection Online Monitoring and Safeguarding (CPOMS) is a UK-based, market-leading software solution for universal safeguarding, wellbeing, and all pastoral issues. CPOMS is a Raptor Technologies company.
CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design)
A security framework that uses physical design elements, such as lighting, sightlines, and building layout, to reduce opportunities for crime.
Cyberbullying
Bullying that takes place through digital devices or platforms, such as text messages, social media, or online gaming, rather than in person. Most state bullying laws now require schools to address cyberbullying, including incidents that happen off-campus if they disrupt a student’s ability to feel safe or learn at school.
D
Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education is a federal government agency that develops policy, administers, and coordinates most federal assistance to education.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for securing the United States from threats that range from border security to cybersecurity and emergency response.
Digital Hall Pass
A software system like Raptor SmartPass that replaces paper hall passes with real-time visibility of where a student went, how long they left class, and who else is out on a hall pass. Features like Encounter Prevention and automatic pass controls help schools protect instructional time and reduce issues like vaping, vandalism, and unsafe encounters among students.
Discipline Disproportionality
A pattern in which certain groups of students, often based on race, disability, or other characteristics, receive discipline at higher rates than their peers.
Dismissal Management
The process and technology schools use to safely and efficiently release students to approved guardians or transportation at the end of the school day, providing a smoother experience for staff and guardians while maintaining defensible records of dismissal.
District
A school district operates local, public primary and secondary schools. The majority of U.S. K–12 public schools are units of local school districts that can range from a few to hundreds of schools.
Drill Management Software
A software system like Raptor’s Drill Manager that helps schools and districts schedule, run, and log safety drills in every building from a single dashboard, making it easy to monitor compliance with state-mandated requirements. Built-in reporting also helps districts analyze drill performance to identify gaps and improve future drills through after-action reviews.
Drills (School Safety Drills)
Every state requires public (and sometimes charter) schools to conduct drills (announced and unannounced) that help staff and students know what to do during certain events such as a fire, severe weather, lockdown, or active shooter. School safety drills should not be hyper realistic to avoid creating unnecessary trauma.
E
Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI)
An early-childhood therapy based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), delivered at high intensity, often 20 to 40 hours a week, to build communication, social, and behavioral skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). By breaking larger skills into smaller, teachable steps and starting during early childhood, EIBI aims to make the most of a developmental window when intervention tends to have the greatest impact.
Early Intervention
Identifying and addressing student wellbeing or behavioral concerns as early as possible to prevent them from escalating into a crisis. Staff at schools must understand their roles around student mental health, be properly trained, and have an effective reporting method that clearly documents and connects early interventions for better risk management.
Elopement
When a student (usually elementary aged) leaves a supervised area or school property without permission from staff. Elopement is most common among students with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental, behavioral, or emotional needs, though it can happen with any student. Schools often address student elopement through an FBA (functional behavioral assessment) and an Individual Safety Plan, along with staff training on prevention and response.
Emergency Management Systems for Schools
Emergency management encompasses many elements of school safety, including how the school will prevent, respond to, and recover from both large-scale and localized incidents. Systems can include software and hardware that integrate to alert and protect students and staff when paired with effective safety procedures.
Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)
A comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) outlines how a school will prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies based on their campus building, personnel, and other unique situations. Federal guidance on building an EOP, once maintained by REMS, is now hosted on SchoolSafety.gov.
ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) Funding
ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) was a set of COVID-19 relief funds included in the CARES, CRRSA, and ARP acts to help K-12 schools address the impact of the pandemic. All three rounds of ESSER funding are now closed, with final spending on previously approved projects concluding in early 2026.
Evacuate
The emergency response protocol used to move everyone out of the building to a predetermined location away from the threat. Related protocols: Secure, Lockdown, Shelter.
Event Management for Schools
A system like Raptor EventSafe that helps schools manage registration, ticketing, pre-screening, and QR code check-in for events such as games, performances, and fundraisers, verifying attendee identity when needed and giving schools an accurate count of who’s on campus. This gives schools the same data visibility during large gatherings as day-to-day operations, and it provides a smoother experience for guests to enter quickly without skipping security protocols.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
A federal education law, passed in 2015, that replaced No Child Left Behind and gives states more control over accountability and school improvement.
F
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
A federal law that protects the privacy of a student’s educational, health, mental health, or behavioral information records and gives parents (or eligible students 18 and older) the right to access those records and control who else can see them. FERPA includes exceptions for health and safety emergencies, allowing schools to share relevant information with law enforcement or other officials when there’s an articulable threat to a student or others.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supports citizens and emergency personnel to develop and improve the nation’s capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate hazards.
Formula Grant
A grant awarded automatically based on a set formula, such as student enrollment or the number of low-income students served, rather than a competitive application process. Title I is a well-known example, distributing funds to districts according to that formula rather than through application review.
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
A legal requirement, established under IDEA, that public schools provide students with disabilities an education tailored to their individual needs at no cost to families.
Full-Scale Exercise (School Safety Drill)
The most complex tier of school safety drill, involving real first responders and multiple agencies working together to test an entire emergency response plan from start to finish, rather than a single scenario or team. Because of the realism involved, participants may need mental health screening beforehand to ensure they’re prepared to take part.
G
Grants
Grants are funding awards from federal, state, or local sources that schools and districts can use to support safety initiatives without dipping into their general operating budget. Unlike loans, grants don’t need to be repaid, though they typically come with specific eligibility requirements, allowable expenses, and application deadlines.
Greeter Zone (Reunification)
Where guardians enter the reunification site after an event that disrupted a school day. A basic setup will include an entryway for arriving guardians, a check-in station, and a path for the guardians to navigate to the Guardian Holding Area.
Greeters (Reunification)
As part of the reunification team, greeters are responsible for guardian check-in and verifying the guardian’s identity.
Guardian Holding Area (Reunification)
Where guardians are grouped and wait to be reunified with their child(ren) during a school reunification. A basic setup will include an area where guardians can be grouped and a path for them to exit the area with a designated escort as they are taken to the reunification area.
Guardian Verification
The process of confirming a visitor or pickup person’s identity and authorization before releasing a student to them.
H
H.E.R.O. Program
A free, age-appropriate active shooter safety curriculum from Safe Kids Inc. that teaches students and staff to Hide, Escape, Run, or Overcome a threat, with lesson plans vetted by parents, teachers, and psychologists and an accessibility guide for students with disabilities.
Hold
The school emergency response protocol used to clear hallways and keep instruction moving while addressing a non-threatening issue, such as a medical situation. Related protocols: Secure, Lockdown, Shelter, Evacuate.
Hybrid Learning
A combination of instructor-led learning that is both virtual and in-person.
I
The “I Love U Guys” Foundation (ILUG)
A national nonprofit that created the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and Standard Reunification Method (SRM), two widely adopted frameworks for how schools respond to emergencies and reunite students with families afterward. The organization takes its name from a text message sent by Emily Keyes during the 2006 Platte Canyon High School shooting. Raptor is a proud partner of The “I Love U Guys” Foundation.
Incident Command System (ICS)
A standardized approach to emergency management that establishes clear roles, communication, and command structure during an incident.
Incident Commander
The individual with overall authority and responsibility for managing an emergency response, including directing staff, coordinating with first responders, and making key decisions until the incident is resolved or command is transferred. This role is central to the Incident Command System (ICS), the broader framework most school emergency plans are built around.
Incident Reporting
The process of documenting incidents like injuries, violent behavior, or events requiring a 911 call, using clear, consistent criteria so schools know what to report and how. Effective reporting connects individual reports to district-wide pattern-spotting and follow-up action, rather than relying on fragmented paper trails or disconnected departments.
Inclusive School Safety Planning
Safety planning that accounts for mobility, sensory, communication, and language differences across a school community, not just a single default response. This means considering how drills, alerts, and evacuations work for students and staff with disabilities, English language learners, and unfamiliar visitors.
Independent School District (ISD)
A school district that operates as its own unit of local government, separate from any city or county, with its own elected board of trustees and authority to levy property taxes. An ISD can serve primary through secondary schools.
Individual Safety Plan (ISP)
A short-term plan developed for a specific student whose behavior has been identified as a safety risk to themselves or others, often created as the outcome of a BTAM process. It outlines specific monitoring, supports, and interventions until the immediate risk is resolved. Unlike an IEP, an ISP isn’t a special education document and isn’t meant to be long-term.
Individualized Education Plans (IEP)
A legal document required under IDEA that outlines the specialized instruction and services that a student with a disability needs, developed and reviewed annually by parents, teachers, and specialists. Unlike a 504 Plan, which provides accommodations within the general curriculum, an IEP can include specialized instruction and related services like speech therapy.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures children with disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education. This education must meet their needs and prepare them for further education, as well as future employment and independent living.
In-School Suspension (ISS)
A disciplinary consequence in which a student remains on campus, typically in a separate room, instead of attending regular classes.
Instructional Time
The portion of the school day dedicated to active teaching and learning, which schools work to protect from interruptions such as excessive uses of hall passes.
L
Learning Loss
The loss of academic skills or knowledge that occurs when a student experiences an extended break or disruption from regular instruction, such as summer vacation, school closures, or a natural disaster. The term became widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote learning and school closures caused nationwide measurable setbacks in reading and math.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
A requirement under IDEA that students with disabilities be educated alongside their non-disabled peers to the greatest extent appropriate.
Lockdown
The emergency response protocol used when there’s a threat inside or near the building. It’s usually remembered by the mnemonic “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight”: doors are locked, lights are turned off, and everyone stays out of sight and silent until an all-clear is given. Related protocols: Hold, Secure, Shelter, Evacuate.
LoRa (Long Range Network)
A wireless communication technology that transmits data over long distances using minimal power, often used to keep panic alert systems connected to 911 even when cell service or Wi-Fi is unavailable.
Low-Level Concerns
Behaviors or changes in a student that aren’t immediately alarming on their own but may signal an emerging need for support, such as irregular attendance, withdrawal, or unexplained bruising. Tracking low-level concerns is a key part of suicide and bullying prevention and behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM), since patterns can surface risks before they escalate.
M
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting
On February 14, 2018, a gunman killed 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The tragedy led to Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which mandated behavioral threat assessment teams in every school district and funded campus hardening measures statewide. It also influenced numerous states passing Alyssa’s Law, named for victim Alyssa Alhadeff, which requires or recommends schools to implement silent panic alert systems in a growing number of states.
Mass Notification System
A platform that helps schools send emergency alerts and updates to staff, students, and even families across multiple channels at once.
McKinney-Vento Act
A federal law that protects the educational rights of students experiencing homelessness, including access to enrollment, transportation, and services.
Mobile Panic Alert for Schools
A mobile or wearable panic alert button for schools that allows users to activate an emergency response from anywhere on campus by directly connecting to and alerting 911 services. Some schools are required to have these systems to comply with Alyssa’s Law.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a universal framework that helps schools identify struggling students and intervene early. MTSS is focused on the whole child and aligns behavioral, social, emotional, and academic support.
N
National Association of School and Campus Police Chiefs (NASCP)
A professional association for law enforcement executives who lead school and campus police departments, providing training, networking, and advocacy resources specific to school-based policing leadership. Learn more about NASCP.
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
A national professional organization that sets training standards, credentialing, and best practices for school psychologists, and publishes widely used guidance on student mental health and threat assessment.
National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO)
A membership organization that trains school-based law enforcement officers in school policing and sets the most widely used national standards for the School Resource Officer (SRO) role.
National School Counseling Week (NSCW)
An annual observance sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) that highlights the role school counselors play in student success.
National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC)
A division of the U.S. Secret Service that conducts research and publishes best practices on preventing targeted violence, including school-based attacks.
NIMS (National Incident Management System)
A nationwide framework developed by FEMA that provides a consistent approach for government agencies, schools, and organizations to coordinate during an emergency.
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
An official announcement, published by a federal or state agency, that a grant program is open for applications. It typically includes eligibility requirements, funding amounts, allowable expenses, and the application deadline. Also called a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Program Guidance.
NSGP (Nonprofit Security Grant Program)
A federal grant program administered by FEMA that funds physical security enhancements for nonprofit organizations, including many private schools.
O
Orientation (School Safety Drills)
A school safety drill focused on familiarizing students, staff, and first responders with a campus’s physical layout, exits, and safe areas, typically used early in the school year or when a facility changes. Unlike drills that rehearse a response to a specific emergency, an Orientation builds baseline awareness of the space itself.
Oxford High School Shooting
On November 30, 2021, a student carried out a shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan, killing four students. The incident is frequently cited in school safety planning for the civil and criminal liability that it established for parents and school staff who fail to act on warning signs of a threat.
P
Parent Monitor (Reunification)
As part of the reunification team, the Parent Monitor manages the parents or guardians after they are checked into the reunification site and are waiting to be reunified with their student(s).
Parent Runner (Reunification)
As part of the reunification team, the Parent Runner locates parents or guardians at the reunification site and brings them to the reunification zone to be reunited with their student(s).
Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
A volunteer organization made up of parents, teachers, and school staff that raises funds, organizes events, and advocates for students and schools, often affiliated with the National PTA. Some schools use the similar but distinct term PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) for independently run groups not affiliated with the national organization.
Plotter
Someone who is planning or preparing to carry out an act of targeted violence, as distinct from someone who has only made a threat without intent to act. Identifying plotters, rather than just verbal threats, is a central goal of behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM).
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
A tiered framework schools use to teach and reinforce positive behavior proactively, rather than relying mainly on punishment after problems occur. It’s closely related to Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), which applies the same tiered approach to academic and social-emotional needs as well.
Preannounced Drills
A drill that participants are told about in advance, so everyone understands that it’s practice and not a real emergency. Some states require certain drills (like lockdowns) to be preannounced, which reduces anxiety before and during the drill. The exact time of the drill on a certain day might be a surprise, however, staff will know about the drill so they can reassure students that they are safe.
Private School
A school funded through tuition, donations, and endowments rather than government funding, giving it independence to set its own curriculum, admissions criteria, and accreditation path. Private schools include religious or parochial schools, run by a specific church or faith community, and independent schools, which are self-governed and not tied to any religious organization.
PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point)
The call center responsible for receiving 911 calls and dispatching emergency services when needed. Silent panic alert systems that align with Alyssa’s Law must directly connect to 911 rather than routing through a third party.
Public School
A school funded and overseen by a local, state, or federal government, offering free enrollment to all students within its designated boundaries. Because they’re publicly funded, public schools are typically eligible for state and federal school safety grants, unlike most private schools, which face more limited funding options. Public schools include traditional district schools, as well as charter schools and magnet schools, which operate with more independence while remaining publicly funded.
R
Readiness & Emergency Management for Schools (REMS)
A U.S. Department of Education technical assistance center that supported schools in developing emergency operations plans (EOPs) until it closed in September 2025. Its resources and guidance were absorbed into SchoolSafety.gov, the federal government’s current school safety information hub.
Remote Learning
Instruction delivered entirely online, with students and teachers connecting through video, coursework platforms, or other technology instead of meeting in person. The term became widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools shifted to remote instruction during building closures.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
An official announcement, published by a federal or state agency, that a grant program is open for applications. It typically includes eligibility requirements, funding amounts, allowable expenses, and the application deadline. Also called a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) or Program Guidance.
Restorative Practices
An approach focused on building and strengthening relationships, fostering a sense of belonging and community, and addressing harm when it occurs. Restorative practices can be used proactively to build trust and strengthen school climate, as well as responsively to help individuals understand the impact of their actions, take accountability, repair harm, and restore relationships rather than relying on punishment alone.
Reunification Area
The Reunification Area is the designated zone where the reunification process is completed.
Reunification Exercise
A district-wide training event where schools, families, and community partners practice the reunification process together, often using the Standard Reunification Method (SRM).
Reunification for Schools
Software that replaces manual, paper-based reunification processes with a digital way to track and confirm the status of every student and staff member during an evacuation or reunification.
Reunification Site
This is typically an off-site location where schools evacuate. Examples include churches, recreation centers, athletic facilities, meeting halls, movie theaters.
Reunification Team
The staff assigned specific roles, such as Greeters, Runners, and Monitors, responsible for carrying out a school’s reunification plan when it’s activated.
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is a structured evaluation of a school’s physical security, emergency plans, and potential hazards, used to identify vulnerabilities and prioritize improvements before an incident occurs.
S
Safeguarding
A term mostly used in the UK for the ongoing responsibility to protect children’s welfare and prevent harm, including abuse, neglect, and maltreatment. It’s the term CPOMS, Raptor’s UK-based safeguarding platform, is built around, roughly equivalent to what U.S. schools often call child protection or student wellbeing.
Safety Training
The ongoing process of keeping school staff trained and up to date with federal, state, and district safety requirements, including tracking completion, documenting records for audits, and delivering role-specific training rather than a single generic course. A system like Raptor’s Safety Training and Compliance suite automates content delivery and reporting so schools can verify staff readiness without manual tracking.
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
On December 14, 2012, a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The tragedy prompted a wave of new state funding for school security upgrades, wider adoption of Secure Entry Vestibules and Single Point of Entry designs, and the creation of Sandy Hook Promise, which is the nonprofit behind the anonymous tip reporting programs many schools use today.
Santa Fe High School Shooting
On May 18, 2018, a shooter killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School near Houston, Texas. The tragedy led to Texas Senate Bill 11, which required every school district to form a Threat Assessment Team, strengthened Emergency Operations Plan requirements to include a specific active-shooter policy, and established regular safety audits of every district’s EOP by the Texas School Safety Center.
School Climate or Culture
The overall tone and quality of a school as experienced by the people in it, shaped by relationships, safety, and a sense of belonging among students, staff, and families.
School Resource Officer (SRO)
The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) defines an SRO as “a carefully selected, specifically trained, and properly equipped full-time law enforcement officer with sworn law enforcement authority.” They are trained in school-based law enforcement and emergency response and are typically armed, unless prohibited by law.
School Safety Drills
Practice exercises schools conduct to prepare students and staff to respond to emergencies, ranging in complexity from Orientations and Tabletops to Full-Scale Exercises.
School Safety Ecosystem
An approach to school safety where products, data, and workflows are connected rather than run as separate, disconnected tools, such as Raptor’s School Safety Platform. In a true ecosystem, a single record for each person, such as a visitor or student, is shared across systems so information entered once, like a visitor check-in, is automatically available where it’s needed next, such as during an emergency.
School Safety Solution
A product or system designed to address a specific school safety need, such as visitor screening, emergency alerting, or student wellbeing monitoring. A single school safety solution typically solves one part of the picture; a consolidated school safety system like Raptor connects multiple solutions so they work together.
Seat Time
The amount of time a student spends physically present in instruction, often used by states to calculate funding and attendance requirements.
Secure
The emergency response protocol used when there’s a threat outside the building: exterior doors are locked, and instruction continues as normal inside. Related protocols: Hold, Lockdown, Shelter, Evacuate.
Secure Entry Vestibule
A controlled entryway, often with double doors and reinforced glass, that requires visitors to be screened before gaining access to the rest of the building.
Seminars/Workshops (School Safety Drills)
A school safety drill or activity that uses instructional media, such as videos, books, and songs, to teach students and staff how to respond to emergencies, typically without any physical walk-through or simulation involved.
Shelter
The emergency response protocol used for a hazard inside the environment, such as severe weather or a chemical spill, where staying inside is safer than evacuating. Depending on the hazard, this might mean moving to an interior room, sealing doors and windows, or taking cover. Related protocols: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate.
Silent Panic Alert System
A system that lets staff initiate a silent emergency alert (often wearable) with the touch of a button, immediately and directly alerting 911 and sharing critical details like location and incident type with the local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The ideal panic alert integrates with multiple safety systems to activate school-wide protocols for safety and security, such as Raptor Alert. Many states have passed Alyssa’s Law, which requires schools to have silent panic alert systems.
Simulation Drills
A mid-tier school safety drill that modifies the physical environment to closely resemble a real emergency scenario, such as staging mock injuries or simulated hazards, so participants can practice their response in realistic conditions. Unlike a Full-Scale Exercise, a simulation drill typically involves a single team or building rather than multiple outside agencies and should be conducted by trained professionals given the graphic nature of the scenarios involved.
Single Point of Entry
A school design standard that limits public access to one monitored entrance, often required by state security codes.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
An educational approach that helps students develop skills such as self-regulation, empathy, coping, problem-solving skills, and relationship-building alongside academic learning.
Standard Response Protocol (SRP)
A five-action framework from The “I Love U Guys” Foundation, made up of Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter, that gives schools and first responders a common vocabulary for any emergency, from severe weather to an active threat.
Standard Reunification Method (SRM)
A framework from The “I Love U Guys” Foundation for how schools plan, practice, and carry out parent-student reunification, using defined roles like Greeters and Runners and designated areas like the Reunification Site and Holding Areas.
Student Holding Area (Reunification)
Where evacuated students wait to be reunified during a school reunification. A basic setup will include an area where the students can be seated (and ideally organized by student last name), and a path for them to exit the area with their Student Runner escort.
Student Information System (SIS)
A student information system (SIS) collects and stores school-wide data, including staff, guardian, and student data, and makes it accessible to the appropriate school and district staff. SIS data includes information like names, birthdates, addresses, class rosters, etc.
Student Runner (Reunification)
As part of the reunification team, Student Runners locate students at the reunification site and bring them to the reunification zone to reunify them with their guardian.
Student Wellbeing
An approach to supporting students through the perspective that help is needed on a continuum of “well” to “unwell” rather than just when a student is actively struggling or in crisis. Student wellbeing is the practice of identifying concerns, such as behavioral changes, bullying, or self-harm risk, before they escalate into a crisis, rather than only responding after an incident occurs. This typically means bringing together multiple sources of information, like anonymous tips, behavior tracking, and accident reports, so staff can spot patterns and intervene early.
Suicide Prevention
An ongoing set of practices, from the everyday language adults use to formal crisis response, aimed at reducing stigma and helping students feel safe asking for help before a crisis develops. Effective prevention includes staff training in supportive language, consistent policies, and connecting students with resources like the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or Crisis Text Line.
Superintendent
The chief administrator of a school district, responsible for implementing the school board’s policies, managing district operations, and providing leadership across all schools in the district.
SVPP (COPS School Violence Prevention Program)
A federal grant administered by the Department of Justice’s COPS Office that funds school safety technology to help prevent and respond to violence.
Swatting
A hoax call or report, often made anonymously or with a spoofed number, that falsely claims an active shooter, bomb, or other life-threatening emergency at a specific location in order to trigger a large-scale law enforcement response. Swatting is a federal crime, and even though the threat is fake, schools must respond as if it’s real, triggering lockdowns, evacuations, and genuine trauma for students and staff.
T
Tabletops (School Safety Drill)
Tabletops are a type of school safety drill involving small group exercises where each member is assigned a distinct role in a safety scenario. Groups then communicate their ideas with one another and develop solutions which can later be shared with a larger group.
Target Hardening
The practice of making a facility more resistant to attack through physical security measures such as reinforced doors, barriers, or access control.
Targeted Violence
Violence directed at a specific person, group, or location that is planned in advance, rather than impulsive or random. Most school violence prevention efforts, including BTAM, focus on targeted violence specifically, since it typically involves observable warning signs before the act occurs.
Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC)
The Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) is an official university-level research center at Texas State University. The TxSSC serves as a clearinghouse for safety and security information and is a leader in key school safety initiatives and mandates.
Threat Assessment
The process of gathering and evaluating information about a person’s behavior, communications, and circumstances to determine whether they pose a genuine risk of violence. It’s the “assessment” half of BTAM, typically carried out by a school’s Threat Assessment Team.
Threat Assessment Team
The multidisciplinary team, often including administrators, counselors, and school resource officers, responsible for evaluating and managing potential threats identified through a school’s BTAM process.
Trauma-Informed Response
Responding to a student’s escalating behavior by first helping them regulate, through strategies like reducing sensory input, offering space, or a calming activity, before addressing the behavior itself or applying a consequence. A trauma-informed response treats behavior as a survival response (fight, flight, or freeze) rather than defiance, recognizing that a student can’t process or reflect on a consequence until their nervous system has calmed down.
Truancy
Unexcused student absences that exceed a threshold set by state law, which can result in legal consequences for families.
U
Unannounced Drills
A drill conducted without advance notice, so participants respond as they would to a real emergency. Unlike Preannounced Drills, this tests genuine readiness but can also cause more stress, so schools often balance the two approaches across a school year.
Unauthorized Meetups
When students encounter each other (planned or unplanned) while on a hall pass from class. These encounters can lead to group vandalism, vaping, or bullying. Schools need methods to prevent meetups between students who are subject to a formal separation, such as a Title IX no-contact order, regardless of intent. Digital hall passes prevent unsafe encounters and reduce hallway wanderers and other behavior issues.
Unified School District
A school district that operates both elementary and secondary schools under one administration, rather than having separate districts for each grade span. Unlike an Independent School District, which describes a district’s governmental independence from a city or county, “unified” refers specifically to grade-span coverage.
V
Violence Prevention
The ongoing effort to identify and address risk factors for violence before they escalate, through staff training, trusted relationships, and early intervention rather than reacting after an incident. This includes training staff to recognize warning signs, integrating School Resource Officers as relationship-builders rather than just a security presence, and offering students positive leadership opportunities to reduce the isolation that gang recruitment and other risk factors exploit.
Visitor Management for Schools
A system like Raptor VisitorSafe that screens and tracks everyone entering a campus, checking a visitor’s ID against sex offender registries and school-defined custom alert lists, such as custody restrictions or banned visitors, then alerts staff in real time if there’s a match. Syncing with a school’s Student Information System (SIS) also lets staff confirm custody rights before releasing a student to a visitor.
Visitor Screening
The process of verifying a visitor’s identity and checking it against sex offender registries and school-defined watchlists, such as custody restrictions or banned individuals, before granting campus access. Screening is one core function of security within a broader visitor management for schools system, alongside check-in, badging, and dismissal verification.
Volunteer Management for Schools
A system like Raptor VolunteerSafe that manages volunteer registration, background screening, and ongoing eligibility tracking. Districts can configure different levels of background checks based on a volunteer’s role, and some systems re-run monthly checks on active volunteers to catch any changes since their last screening.
W
Walk-Through (School Safety Drills)
A slowed-down drill where students and staff move through the actual steps of an emergency response at a relaxed pace, giving them a chance to ask questions and build familiarity with their role before doing it at full speed. It sits between Orientations and Simulation Drills on the drill escalation ladder, adding practiced action without the realism or time pressure of a full simulation.
Z
Zero Tolerance Policy
A strict disciplinary approach that applies predetermined, often severe, consequences for specific rule violations regardless of circumstances.
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