51������

The Grammarist notes that “hindsight is 20/20 is usually said in answer to an admonishment that [someone] should have known something would happen”, or that we might/could/should have made different decisions earlier on. In hindsight, 2020 has been one tumultuous year! Along with the first US COVID case here in WA last January, we have experienced social, political, economic, and, often, personal disruption during the entirety of 2020.

November! We have crossed another threshold. Moving into November, we made it through our first ever COVID Great ShakeOut, and Halloween, had a blue moon, fell back to standard time, and are anxiously (nervously?) awaiting the results of the Presidential election. We will close out the month with a well-deserved long Thanksgiving weekend. So much is happening!

​When we talk about comprehensive school safety and safety planning, we consider the four main areas of threats and hazards: natural, technological, biological and human/man-made. It feels like we are experiencing all four of these threat and hazard areas at the same time right now. Here are some resources to help you work through these challenging days.

The 2020 Washington Great ShakeOut is coming soon! We are all experiencing what happens in times of a statewide threat to our schools. Even in times of COVID, that means: “Drop, Cover, Hold on!” The official date and time is October 15 at 10:15 am, but any date that works for you and your school community is fine. Make sure you involve your families!

The 5th Annual School Safety Summit was held on June 12 of this year. Annual Summits are designed to be participatory. Over the years, we have had targeted presentations on specific funding issues, safety topics, and studies mandated by the legislature. Some excellent recommendations have come out of the Summits, and some notable legislation has been proposed – and passed.