School safety is a critical issue facing today’s educators. With violence and bullying on the rise, it’s essential to create safe learning environments on school campuses for students, faculty, and staff alike.
Schools should have written plans focusing on prevention and response to achieve this. SMART goals can help establish these plans by providing clear targets. This guide will cover 13 examples of SMART goals for school safety.
But before diving into the examples, let’s review what SMART goals are.
What is a SMART Goal?
The SMART system is an effective goal-setting tool to enhance school safety. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based.
Feeling puzzled? Let’s delve into each element of SMART:
Specific
Broad goals can result in confusion, leading to wasted time and resources. On the contrary, when you develop specific goals, you gain a clear understanding of what needs to be done, enhancing efficiency.
It’s crucial to pinpoint the actions required and identify who will be responsible for executing these tasks. This creates a plan everyone involved can follow, enabling early identification of potential hurdles.
Measurable
Assessing your school safety goals is critical for achieving success. Monitoring progress allows for timely identification and rectification of areas that need improvement. Without this aspect, it becomes challenging to gauge the effectiveness of your efforts.
Attainable
While it’s normal to be enthusiastic about your goals, it’s important to maintain realistic expectations and a solid plan to reach them.
Considering your current situation, evaluate what is realistically achievable. Reflect on the resources at your disposal and the timeline within which you aim to reach excellence.
That being said, ambitious goals aren’t necessarily unattainable. It’s all about striking a balance between aspiration and feasibility.
Relevant
Establishing goals that resonate with your core values can be a powerful motivational tool. Your fundamental beliefs can guide you through challenging times and keep you focused on your path.
Time-Based
Establishing a clear timeline can promote your ability to focus and adhere to your objectives. Since significant improvements can’t be reached overnight, having a deadline encourages consistent dedication over a period of time.
13 SMART Goals Examples for School Safety
1. Establish an Emergency Response Plan
“I’ll create an emergency response plan for my school by the end of two months. This plan should have detailed guidelines on how to swiftly organize emergencies, as well as identify key personnel responsible for each step.”
Specific: The person will create a comprehensive emergency response plan with guidelines, steps, and key personnel identified.
Measurable: The emergency response plan should have clear criteria to measure its completion.
Attainable: This SMART goal is achievable if the person has access to all relevant information about the school, such as staff roles, building layouts, etc.
Relevant: Establishing an emergency response plan is critical for any school administrator who wants to keep their students and staff safe.
Time-based: Goal attainment is expected by the end of two months.
2. Make School Buildings and Grounds Secure
“The school will invest in additional security measures to secure our buildings and grounds. This includes installing motion-sensing lights, adding locks to door handles and windows, and conducting regular maintenance checks around the perimeter.”
Specific: The specific statement outlines what needs to be done and how much time is allotted for meeting this goal.
Measurable: Make sure you establish a budget for the equipment and installation expenses.
Attainable: This is feasible in 6 months, given that the necessary supplies are available.
Relevant: School safety is improved when the premises are secure from potential intruders.
Time-based: The SMART statement should be met after 6 whole months.
3. Educate Students on School Safety Practices
“For three months, I want to research to learn more about the best practices for school safety and plan educational events to share this information with students. I will also partner with local organizations and experts on the topic.”
Specific: This goal entails researching, planning, and organizing a series of events related to safety protocols in schools.
Measurable: Progress will be gauged by completing the research and organizing events.
Attainable: It is possible to have a strong understanding of best practices with research and the help of local organizations and experts.
Relevant: Teaching students about safety protocols will ensure they are better informed on how to stay secure in school.
Time-based: There is a deadline of three months for this particular goal.
4. Implement Bullying Prevention Programs
“I will implement a bullying prevention program in my school within the next year to help students feel safe and secure. This way, they can focus on learning and growing without feeling threatened or intimidated by their peers.”
Specific: The statement is clear. The individual knows they must implement a bullying prevention program in their school.
Measurable: Track the implementation process, observe student feedback, and ultimately gauge how safety and security have increased within the school.
Attainable: This is entirely attainable with proper research, planning, and implementation of a bullying prevention program.
Relevant: This goal is relevant to increasing safety for students to ensure they can focus on learning without feeling intimidated by their peers.
Time-based: Goal achievement should occur over the course of one year.
5. Ensure Proper Staff Training on Security Issues
“Within 6 months, all staff members and teachers will have completed the appropriate online training modules related to school safety and security protocols. Surveys will be conducted to ensure everyone knows our procedures.”
Specific: This SMART goal outlines detailed steps for staff training on security issues.
Measurable: Use surveys to evaluate the understanding of staff members and teachers after they have completed the appropriate online training modules.
Attainable: The goal is possible as it requires the completion of an online module, which the school can surely provide.
Relevant: Understanding security protocols is essential for a safe and secure learning environment.
Time-based: There is an end date of 6 months to accomplish success.
6. Promote Positive Discipline Practices
“I’ll promote positive discipline practices in my school. I plan to provide ongoing training to all staff and faculty members on de-escalating conflict and promoting positive behaviors. Within one year, 100% of the staff and faculty should be trained.”
Specific: The goal states the objective, what will be done to achieve it, and the deadline.
Measurable: You could look at the percentage of staff and faculty members trained.
Attainable: This is feasible since a year is plenty of time to complete training for all staff and faculty members.
Relevant: This statement reflects the importance of positive discipline practices in schools.
Time-based: One year is the estimated timeline for reaching the SMART goal.
7. Increase Surveillance of School Areas
“By the end of this year, we will install additional surveillance cameras around the school grounds to increase visibility and monitor any suspicious activity. We’ll purchase equipment compatible with our existing system and train staff to use it effectively.”
Specific: You have a clear action plan: install new surveillance cameras and train staff to use them.
Measurable: Measure success by the amount of cameras and staff trained.
Attainable: This is a reasonable goal as long as funding and staff capacity are available.
Relevant: Increasing high-traffic surveillance will help deter potential criminal activity.
Time-based: You should aim to finish the goal by the end of the year.
8. Create Intruder Alert Protocols
“I want to create an intruder alert protocol for my school to educate staff and students on what to do if they sense a potential intruder in two months. I’ll research best practices, consult security personnel, and develop written guidelines explaining the proper procedures.”
Specific: The school administrator aims to create an intruder alert protocol for their school within two months.
Measurable: Follow the steps of researching best practices, consulting security personnel, and developing guidelines.
Attainable: This is doable as it does not require advanced technical knowledge to complete the research and development of the protocol.
Relevant: The SMART goal is appropriate because it provides a safe response plan to potential intruders.
Time-based: The goal is time-bound, with an end date of two months.
9. Adopt a Zero Tolerance Policy for Weapons
“To ensure a safe learning environment, I will institute and implement a zero-tolerance policy for weapons of any kind on school grounds by the end of the semester. That includes any objects that can be used to inflict harm, from knives to firearms.”
Specific: The goal is well-defined, specifying what will not be tolerated on school grounds.
Measurable: Schools can monitor whether the zero-tolerance policy is enforced by conducting random searches and surveys.
Attainable: This can be accomplished by working with administrators and local law enforcement to develop a policy.
Relevant: The zero-tolerance policy is necessary for developing a safe learning environment for students and staff.
Time-based: There is a timeline of one semester to implement the policy.
10. Prioritize Parent Involvement in Safety Initiatives
“We’ll work with local parent organizations to devise a strategy for increasing parent engagement in school safety initiatives for this semester. We will measure success based on the number of parents who attend school safety meetings and events.”
Specific: This goal explains what you must do (work with parent organizations) and how to measure success (the number of parents attending).
Measurable: You can count the number of parents attending safety meetings and events.
Attainable: Devising a strategy and working with parents to increase engagement are realistic objectives.
Relevant: Encouraging parent involvement in safety initiatives is essential to creating a safe school environment.
Time-based: Goal completion is expected for the current semester.
11. Conduct Periodic Safety Drills
“I want to conduct a safety drill and debrief in each of our school buildings within two months. I’ll schedule drills with students, staff, and faculty participation. We will also review the results of each drill and make necessary changes.”
Specific: The individual will conduct one safety drill in every school building within two months.
Measurable: You could count the number of drills completed and debriefs conducted.
Attainable: This is possible since the person is taking steps to ensure all buildings have safety protocols.
Relevant: Safety drills are important for preparing students, staff, and faculty for potential emergencies.
Time-based: The goal is time-bound since it has a deadline of two months.
12. Set Clear Consequences for Safety Violations
“We hope to establish and enforce a policy that outlines the consequences of safety violations after four months. This policy will be developed with input from school administrators, teachers, and students.”
Specific: The policy and associated consequences are clear and concise.
Measurable: This is measurable through tracking compliance with the policy and assessing whether or not the necessary accountability systems have been implemented.
Attainable: The goal is achievable as it involves setting up and enforcing a policy that can be monitored and enforced.
Relevant: Establishing clear consequences for safety violations is an integral part of maintaining the safety of any school environment.
Time-based: Four months are needed to achieve optimal success.
13. Keep an Updated Record of Security Breaches
“I’ll update our security breach log monthly and notify the school board of potential threats. Doing this will ensure our security breach records are up-to-date and inform our administrators of potential risks.”
Specific: The goal states what must be done (update log and notify board) and how often it should take place (once a month).
Measurable: Track the number of logs updated and any notifications sent out.
Attainable: Updating a security breach log is something that can be accomplished.
Relevant: Keeping an up-to-date log of security breaches helps the school see which areas need improvement for better safety.
Time-based: You have a three-month window to attain the goal statement.
Final Thoughts
You have just read some examples of SMART goals for school safety. With any project, the main goal is to foster a safe learning environment where everyone feels secure and encouraged to learn.
Doing this successfully requires a long-term commitment to safety and security protocols, which can be done by setting SMART goals. That will ensure the school’s safety initiatives effectively address all potential risks and threats.
To maximize the effectiveness of each goal, continually review and adjust them as necessary to ensure they’re still relevant and achievable. Regularly making necessary changes will ultimately make school a safe place.
