School Safety

The Iowa Department of Education believes school districts must be adequately prepared for a variety of emergencies that threaten the young lives of Iowa students each day. Iowa Code 280.30 outlines the requirements for school districts and individual school buildings.

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Prevention

Safe+Sound Iowa: School Safety Reporting System

Safe and Sound Iowa

A free anonymous K-12 school safety reporting system is now available to help prevent violence, unlawful possession of weapons, self-harm and other forms of victimization and threatening behaviors in schools across the state.

The Safe+Sound Iowa program is available to students, school staff, parents and concerned community members to help identify and provide intervention for students in crisis before they hurt themselves or others. Reports of safety concerns can be made securely and anonymously three ways:

  1. Downloading and using the free Safe+Sound Iowa app
  2. Going to SafeandSoundIowa.gov, or
  3. Calling 800-224-6018

Trained dispatchers monitor reports made through Safe+Sound Iowa 24/7 and immediately engage in two-way communication with those raising concerns to ensure the information is vetted. Dispatchers then share information with the appropriate local school safety contact, law enforcement or other community partners so outreach and support can be provided to the student in crisis.

For schools participating in the Safe+Sound Iowa program, a variety of resources are available to help train staff and encourage students and others to use the reporting tools available, including:

  • Mobile App How-To-Video demonstrating how to use the Safe+Sound Iowa app and submit a report
  • How It Works Video
  • How It Works Guidebook detailing what Safe+Sound Iowa is and how it works, with answers to frequently asked questions
  • Introductory PowerPoint introducing Safe+Sound Iowa to with tips on how to use it, and how to talk about it with parents, students and the community to encourage awareness and use
  • Single Page Informational Flyer about Safe+Sound Iowa to post or share with others
  • Downloadable Posters for print and use in promoting Safe+Sound Iowa to middle and high school students
  • Social Media Toolkit to post content on social media channels that informs and amplifies core messages, and allows constituents to repost content
  • Branded Digital Graphics in a variety of sizes to reinforce messages on websites, newsletters and correspondence
  • Message templates for school administrators to use when communicating to teachers and staff and parents about Safe+Sound Iowa being made available in your district

School districts and communities are encouraged to become familiar with these materials. Additional tools will continue to be added to SafeandSoundIowa.gov to help support promotion and adoption of the program, so continue to check back often.

Safe+Sound Iowa is a valuable resource in supporting schools, local law enforcement and other community partners in working together to prevent and protect against acts of violence. Schools may opt-in at any time.

If your school has chosen not to participate, you will still want to be notified when a threat impacts one of your schools. For that reason, the Governor’s School Safety Bureau asks you to complete this School Safety Contact Form, if you have not done so already, so that you can be notified if a report impacts one of your district’s students or buildings. To learn more about providing contacts, see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Fire Code (link to Facilities page)

Behavioral Threat Assessment Teams

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Protection

Critical Incident Mapping

The state has contracted with GeoComm, a third-party vendor, to provide critical incident mapping services to schools in Iowa. The services include creation of detailed Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps of schools, including indoors, and mapping software for use during emergency incidents in and around schools.

Critical incident mapping will empower schools and emergency responders to visualize emergency incidents and other critical information on top of newly developed digital school maps to aid in decreasing response times to school emergencies. Along with creating detailed maps of schools, GeoComm will provide secure web browser-based and mobile mapping applications to provide access to school maps and communicate critical information to identified personnel and first responders.

There is no cost for schools to participate in these services through April 30, 2026. For continuation of services May 1, 2026 and beyond, contact Matt Werner at mwerner@geocomm.com or 937-606-4396.

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Mitigation

Iowa School Self-Assessment

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Response

Emergency Operations Planning

The links below are templates for developing school emergency operations plans. Flip charts offer how-to advice for educators about an emergency or how to react to one. A self-assessment and threat report form are also available for school use.

Sample Plans

Forms

 

School Emergency Response Team

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Recovery

School Operations After an Emergency

Continuity of Operations (COOP) Annex

When an emergency occurs, it may be difficult to plan for continuity of operations and learning. That is why it’s important for education agencies to create a Continuity of Operations (COOP) Annex as a part of their emergency operations plans (EOPs). A COOP Annex outlines how planning and response teams will ensure that essential functions continue during an emergency and its immediate aftermath.

Essential functions include business services (payroll and purchasing), communication (internal and external), computer and systems support, facilities maintenance, safety and security, and continuity of teaching and learning. Maximizing the strength of an education agency’s plans for continuity is an important part of the work that emergency management teams perform at the K-12 and higher ed levels to ensure that learning can continue both during and after an emergency.

Continuity of Operations Resources

Disaster Recovery Funding

Reunification

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Training

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Exercises

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Resources

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Online Courses

Emergency Management Institute - Offers self-paced courses designed for people who have emergency management responsibilities and the general public. All are offered free-of-charge to those who qualify for enrollment.

The following courses are recommended for those interested in school emergency response planning:

 

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