Overseen by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the School and Campus Safety Grant Program was created to provide a baseline security level for all public schools in the state. Funds affected:

Approximately $25 million was distributed to state schools to fund 1,312 projects, including reinforced doors, physical locks, and other security measures.

The Illinois Department of Human Services has grants available for firearm violence prevention and mental health.

Illinois school alert systems are crucial for protecting students and creating safe environments for learning. The Illinois Association of School Boards recognized the need for a comprehensive school policy on school safety.

The organization is a member of the Illinois School Security and Standards Task Force and the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, both of which were created to develop standards to make state schools safer for students and staff.

The association has hosted school safety seminars to share school safety resources. It also helped write the School Safety Drill Act, which set standards in place for schools to follow when conducting safety drills. The act also encourages school officials to work with first responders, so everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in the event of a dangerous situation on campus.

The Illinois School Safety Drill Act: 

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Resource Center is a clearinghouse of information designed to help education leaders protect the students in their care. The center’s website includes links to information about:

In addition, the site directs school officials to a number of courses so administrators, staff members, and teachers can become better at recognizing and preventing threats to school safety.

The center provides a variety of best practices appropriate for K-12 schools and higher education campuses.

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority says that Illinois schools should implement safety plans that include efforts to create a positive school climate.

Factors that impact school climate include:

According to research, students who see school in positive ways are less likely to skip or engage in fights than students who see school in negative ways.

The authority’s report also addresses bullying. If left unchecked or even normalized, bullying can have an adverse impact on students’ mental health and hamper relationships with peers.

According to research, a substantial percentage of school shooters have shared their intentions to do harm. The authority advises school leaders to focus on behavioral threat assessment as a way to respond to individuals with the potential to commit violence.