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It highlights severe gaps in mental health supports, unequal discipline outcomes for students of color and students with disabilities, and the lack of national infrastructure to improve staffing ratios. The piece calls for shifting policy from punitive discipline and law enforcement reliance to school climate, social-emotional development, prevention, and data-driven district strategies with sustained funding, training, and community partnerships.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/reimagining-school-safety-an-evidence-based-policy-call-for-safer-healthier-schools/591214/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/reimagining-school-safety-an-evidence-based-policy-call-for-safer-healthier-schools/591214.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"eBook King","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the article argue that current school safety approaches need restructuring?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It links the COVID-19 pandemic and racial justice movements to major gaps in mental health supports and to harmful, disproportionate punitive discipline outcomes for students of color and students with disabilities.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What staffing and support problems does the article describe?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It notes that many U.S. schools have police but no counselors, nurses, psychologists, or social workers, and that national ratios of school psychologists to students are often far below recommendations.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What policy shift does the article recommend instead of relying on law enforcement and punitive measures?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It recommends moving from “hardening” practices and punitive discipline toward investments in holistic prevention, positive community relationships, and socially supportive school climates, guided by local assessments and data-driven strategies.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},591214,1792666202,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":52,"preview_page_count":4},962088006270,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Reimagining School Safety  \nILLUSTRAT IONS BY MIKE AUSTIN  \nBy Heather M. Reynolds and Ron Avi Astor  \nT  \nhe COVID-19 pandemic and recent racial justice movements have made it very apparent that our current approaches to keeping students safe and healthy in schools need major restructuring and reform. We lack  \nmental health supports in many schools at a time when students need them most.1 We are punishing and removing students of color from schools at much higher rates than white students, and students with disabilities are three times more likely to receive a punitive punishment than their nondisabled peers.2 Additionally, there are strong calls from communities across the United States to remove law enforcement from schools immediately,  \nHeather M. Reynolds is a professor of teacher education in the School for Graduate Studies at SUNY Empire State College, where her research focuses on creating safe, engaging, and welcoming school and classroom environments. Ron Avi Astor is the Crump Professor in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, department of Social Welfare, with a joint appointment in the School of Education. His workfocuses on the socio-ecological influences of society, family, community, school, and culture on different forms of school violence. This article is adapted from “Reimagining School Safety During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for Policy Strategies to Address Racial and Social Justice,” which Reynolds and Astor contributed to Our Children Can’t Wait: The Urgency of Reinventing Education Policy in America, edited by Joseph P. Bishop.  \nwith little planning or data-driven support. With the infusion of federal money into states and schools to help address student achievement losses and mental health challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have an opportunity for real change.3 This is an opportunity to create sustainable systems and infrastructure that help local districts address their most pressing safety needs through districtwide data-driven strategies that show long-term, positive outcomes for the entire school community.4  \nRecent data show that 14 million students in the United States attend schools with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker.5 The National Association of School Psychologists6 recommends that the ratio of school psychologists to students be at least 1 for every 500 students. Only one state met this recommendation as of 2021, and over 20 stateshad a ratio of more than 1,500 students per school psychologist.7 There is no national strategy or infrastructure to lower the ratio of students to counselors, social workers, nurses, and other helping professionals to  \nensure more supports are available to struggling students.8  \nIn addition to diverting resources that could fund better mental health supports, punitive school security and discipline policies have a strong negative impact on students of color and students with disabilities. More specifically, suspension and expulsion rates, referralsto law enforcement, and punitive discipline rates are disproportionately and consistently higher for students of color and students with disabilities in urban, suburban, and rural communi-  \n22 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2023  \nties across the United States, beginning even before students enter kindergarten.9 We should be asking what our schools need to be welcoming and supportive to all. And more importantly, how can policymakers help support that vision with infrastructure, training, and funding to ensure success and sustainability over time?  \nShifting the Focus to Social, Emotional, and Mental Health, and a Positive School Climate  \nReenvisioning education and schools across the United States must account for the large bodies of research showing that schools with strong, caring, culturally supportive, and positive climates cannot only address issues of ongoing victimization but also prevent students from being victimized.10 Little evidence sugges","cbCaiap07PpXSHp0","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiap07PpXSHp0","pdf",963083,"English","# Reimagining School Safety\n## Strengthening Mental Health Supports and Reducing Disparities\n## Shifting From Law Enforcement to Positive School Climate","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article argue that current school safety approaches need restructuring?\",\"answer\":\"It links the COVID-19 pandemic and racial justice movements to major gaps in mental health supports and to harmful, disproportionate punitive discipline outcomes for students of color and students with disabilities.\"},{\"question\":\"What staffing and support problems does the article describe?\",\"answer\":\"It notes that many U.S. schools have police but no counselors, nurses, psychologists, or social workers, and that national ratios of school psychologists to students are often far below recommendations.\"},{\"question\":\"What policy shift does the article recommend instead of relying on law enforcement and punitive measures?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends moving from “hardening” practices and punitive discipline toward investments in holistic prevention, positive community relationships, and socially supportive school climates, guided by local assessments and data-driven strategies.\"}]","Reimagining School Safety - An Evidence-Based Policy Call for Safer, Healthier Schools | PDF",1792071348]