Eighty-Two Percent of Public Schools Indicated Having a Written Plan to Handle a Pandemic Disease in the 2022-23 School Year

Most public schools indicated feeling "somewhat" or "very prepared" to handle this event 

WASHINGTON, January 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighty-two percent of public schools indicated they had a written plan in place to handle a pandemic disease scenario, according to data released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which is a higher percentage than the 46 percent of public schools that indicated they had such plans during the 2017-18 school year on the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), another NCES sample survey. Additionally, public schools commonly reported having a written plan in place for active shooter situations (96 percent), natural disasters (94 percent), and suicide threats or incidents (92 percent). 

"Planning for possible future national health crises has never been more important, as schools across the country have returned for in-person learning following the disruptions of the COVID19 pandemic," said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr. "During the 2017-18 school year, 46 percent of public schools had written plans for handling pandemics, so the increase to 82 percent as of November is notable. Also notable was that 93 percent of schools reported feeling 'somewhat' or 'very prepared' to handle pandemic disease situations." 

Public schools were also surveyed about the use of disciplinary actions at their school. As public schools continue to work through the impact of COVID-19 on student behavior during the 2022-23 school year, student disciplinary actions that they commonly reported in November as being allowed include: referrals to a school counselor (95 percent), loss of student privileges (94 percent), loss of school bus privileges due to misbehavior (82 percent), out-of-school suspension during which curriculum or services were provided (69 percent), and detention and/or Saturday school (61 percent).  

Seventy-two percent of public schools reported the lack of or inadequate alternative placements or programs for disruptive students limited their efforts to reduce or prevent disruptive behavioral issues. Approximately 60 percent of schools reported challenges with reducing or preventing disruptive student behavior on school grounds due to inadequate funding, due to a lack of or inadequate teacher training in classroom management, or due to a lack of parental support for school policies. 

The findings released today are from the School Pulse Panel, which is part of NCES's innovative approach to delivering timely information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on public K–12 schools in the U.S. on topics such as teacher trainings, student discipline, school safety, security personnel, pandemic preparedness, learning mode offerings, and quarantine prevalence, as reported by school staff in U.S. public schools. This is the latest experimental data product from the School Pulse Panel. Data from this round were collected from 1,017 participating public schools between November 8 and November 22, 2022.

Experimental data products are innovative statistical products created using new data sources or methodologies. Experimental data may not meet all NCES quality standards but are of sufficient benefit to data users in the absence of other relevant products to justify release. NCES clearly identifies experimental data products upon their release. 

The data released today can be found on the School Pulse Panel dashboard at https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/. 

• Eighty-two percent of public schools indicated they had a written plan in place to deal with a pandemic disease scenario, a higher percentage than the 46 percent of public schools that indicated they had such plans during the 2017-18 school year on the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), another NCES sample survey.
• Ninety-three percent of public schools reported feeling "somewhat" or "very prepared" to handle pandemic disease.

• During the 2022-23 school year, public schools have a variety of written plans in place that detail procedures to follow for emergency scenarios. These include active shooter situations (96 percent), natural disasters (94 percent), and suicide threats or incidents (92 percent).
• During the 2022-23 school year, more than 90 percent of public schools have or plan to drill their students on the following emergency procedures: evacuation (96 percent), lockdown (95 percent), and shelter-in-place (93 percent).
• Thirty percent of public schools report drilling evacuations nine or more times during the school year, 40 percent of public schools report drilling lockdowns twice per school year, and 41 percent report drilling shelter-in-place twice per school year school year.
• Most public schools reported that they felt "somewhat" or "very prepared" to deal with shooting threats (92 percent), intruder situations (92 percent), bomb threats or incidents (87 percent), and active shooter situations (85 percent).

• During the 2022-23 school year, frequently reported safety trainings provided for teachers include: safety procedures such as for handling emergency situations (96 percent), positive behavioral intervention strategies ("PBIS"; 93 percent), recognizing signs of bullying behaviors (84 percent), recognizing signs of self-harm or suicidal tendencies (84 percent), and crisis prevention and intervention (84 percent).
• Seventy-three percent of public schools reported providing trainings on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and 65 percent provided training for recognizing and responding to behaviors involving bias or hate crimes against traditionally marginalized groups.
• During the 2022-23 school year, frequently reported student disciplinary actions that schools allow use of include: referrals to a school counselor (95 percent), loss of student privileges (94 percent), loss of school bus privileges due to misbehavior (82 percent), out-of-school suspension during which curriculum or services were provided (69 percent), and detention and/or Saturday school (61 percent).
• Limitations that public schools face related to reducing or preventing disruptive student behavioral issues from occurring on school grounds include: a lack of or inadequate alternative placement or programs for disruptive students (72 percent), inadequate funding (61 percent), a lack of or inadequate teacher training in classroom management (60 percent), and a lack of parental support for school policies (60 percent).

• Fifty percent of public schools have one or more full- or part-time school resource officers (SRO) at their school at least once a week during the 2022-23 school year. An SRO is a sworn law enforcement officer (SLEO) with arrest authority, who has specialized training and is assigned to work in collaboration with school organizations.
• Twelve percent of public schools have one or more full- or part-time sworn law enforcement officers (SLEO; not an SRO) at their school at least once a week during the 2022-23 school year. A SLEO is an individual who ordinarily carries a firearm and a badge, has full arrest powers, and is paid from governmental funds.
• Twenty-five percent of public schools have one or more full- or part-time security officers at their school at least once a week during the 2022-23 school year. A security officer is an individual who works to maintain safety and security at school, but is not a SLEO and does not have the same authority as SLEOs (e.g., cannot make arrests).
• SLEOs and SROs perform a variety of functions at public schools. Among public schools that have either a SLEO or SRO at their school, frequently reported activities these security personnel participate in include: security enforcement and patrol (89 percent), identifying problems in the school and proactively seeking solutions to solve those problems (80 percent), and emergency management, such as developing and implementing comprehensive safety plans and strategies (79 percent).
• Ninety-two percent of public schools that have either a SLEO or SRO at their school indicated that these security personnel routinely carry a firearm. Ninety percent of these schools indicated that these security personnel routinely carry physical restraints (e.g., handcuffs, tasers). Sixty-five percent reported that these security personnel carry chemical aerosol sprays (e.g., mace) and 52 percent wear a body camera, a higher percentage than the 33 percent of schools that reported so in 2017-18.
• Three percent of all public schools reported that they have a staff member who legally carries a firearm on school property and is not a SLEO, SRO, or security officer.

• During November 2022, 99 percent of public schools offered in-person learning, 16 percent offered full-time remote learning, and 5 percent offered hybrid learning.
• In November 2022, 30 percent of public schools reported having to quarantine students and 18 percent reported having to quarantine staff members.

The National Center for Education Statistics, a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition and progress of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally. 

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The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public. 

CONTACT: 
Josh Delarosa, National Center for Education Statistics, [email protected]
James Elias, Hager Sharp, [email protected]

SOURCE National Center for Education Statistics