More Than One-Third of Public Schools Agreed Traffic Patterns Around Schools Pose a Threat to Student Safety

June 12, 2024

NCES data also show the majority of public schools have a behavioral threat assessment team to identify potential risk for violent or harmful behavior from students.

WASHINGTON (June 12, 2024) — Thirty-eight percent of public school leaders reported they moderately or strongly agreed that traffic patterns around their schools pose a threat to students’ physical safety while commuting to school, according to data released today from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The new data also shed light on public school emergency preparedness and safety procedures. Eighty-five percent of public schools have a behavioral threat assessment team or other formal group to identify students who might be a potential risk for violent or harmful behavior toward themselves or others, an increase from 82 percent in the 2022–23 school year.

“These new data highlight two important issues facing schools: transportation and school emergency preparedness," said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr. “In the latest School Pulse Panel survey, public school leaders agreed with the statement that traffic patterns (38 percent) and crime (11 percent) around their school pose a threat to their students’ physical safety while commuting to school. Both transportation and the safety of students are vital to providing learning environments that supports students. These data explore experiences of schools and the challenges they face, and should spark important conversations.”

Highlights:

  • Eighty-three percent of public schools have school zones in the area immediately surrounding their school.
  • Forty-one percent of public schools have crossing guards working on the streets immediately surrounding the school.
  • Ninety-two percent of public schools reported that they update their emergency operations plan (EOP) annually or more frequently.
  • Local community partners from which public schools most commonly reported having received input on their EOPs are law enforcement groups (94 percent), local emergency management services (67 percent), and local or state department of health representatives (52 percent).

Additional key findings from the 50 states and Washington, D.C., are provided below.

The findings released today are part of an experimental data product from the School Pulse Panel, NCES’s innovative approach to delivering timely information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on public K–12 schools in the U.S. The data, collected between April 9 and 23 of 2024, came from 1,718 participating public K–12 schools from every state and the District of Columbia.

Additional data collected from 103 public K–12 schools in the U.S. outlying areas—American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—are also available. Results from this collection include the finding that 44 percent of outlying area public school leaders reported they moderately or strongly agreed that traffic patterns around their schools pose a threat to students’ physical safety while commuting to school.

Experimental data products are innovative statistical tools created using new data sources or methodologies. Experimental data may not meet all of NCES’s 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.

All data released today can be found on the School Pulse Panel dashboard, at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/spp/results.asp.

Key Findings

Transportation

  • The following percentages of public schools reported that these modes of transportation are available for their students to travel to and from school:
    • Being dropped off/picked up by car (98 percent)
    • School bus (87 percent)
    • Walking (87 percent)
    • Bike, scooter, skateboard, or other similar means (78 percent)
    • Driving their own car (34 percent)
      • Of high/secondary schools, the rate was 91 percent
    • Public transportation (31 percent)
  • On average, the percentage of students who travel using those modes of transportation on a typical school day, as reported by public schools, were:
    • School bus (40 percent)
    • Being dropped off/picked up by car (33 percent)
    • Walking (13 percent)
    • Driving their own car (6 percent)
      • Of high/secondary schools, the rate was 17 percent
    • Bike, scooter, skateboard, or other similar means (4 percent)
    • Public transportation (3 percent)
  • Eighty-three percent of public schools have school zones in the area immediately surrounding their school.
  • Forty-one percent of public schools have a crossing guard(s) working on the streets immediately surrounding the school.
    • Compared to the national estimate (41 percent), a higher percentage of schools with the following characteristics have crossing guard(s) working on the streets immediately surrounding the school:
      • With 500–999 students (56 percent)
      • Elementary schools (51 percent)
      • In suburban areas (50 percent)
      • In the Northeast (50 percent)
      • In cities (49 percent)
      • With 300–499 students (48 percent)
      • With a student body made up of 76 percent or more students of color (47 percent)
    • Compared to the national estimate (41 percent), a lower percentage of schools with the following characteristics have crossing guard(s) working on the streets immediately surrounding the school:
      • High/secondary schools (19 percent)
      • In rural areas (21 percent)
      • With fewer than 300 students (25 percent)
      • With 1,000 or more students (26 percent)
      • With a student body made up of 25 percent or less students of color (29 percent)
  • Concerning all or some of the streets immediately surrounding the school, 79 percent of public schools reported having sidewalks; 35 percent reported having traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps; and 19 percent reported having bike lanes.
  • When asked whether parents have reported certain barriers to students using non-automotive modes of transportation (e.g., walking, biking) to commute to school, the following percentages of schools reported hearing the following barriers:
    • Distance from home to school (46 percent)
    • Weather (41 percent)
    • Traffic conditions on the commute (39 percent)
    • Child’s age (38 percent)
    • Lack of safety measures (26 percent)
    • Crime around school (11 percent)
  • Thirty-eight percent of public school leaders moderately or strongly agreed with the statement, “Traffic patterns around my school pose a threat to my students’ physical safety while commuting to school.” Eleven percent moderately or strongly agreed with the statement, “Crime around my school poses a threat to my students’ physical safety while commuting to school.”

School Emergency Preparedness and Safety Procedures

  • Ninety-two percent of public schools report that they update their emergency operations plan (EOP) annually or more frequently.
  • Local community partners from which public schools most commonly report receiving input on their EOPs are law enforcement groups (94 percent), local emergency management services (67 percent), and local or state department of health representatives (52 percent).
  • For the 2023–24 school year, most public schools report that they practiced (or had plans to practice) lockdown (97 percent), evacuation (95 percent), or shelter-in-place (95 percent) drills.
    • Among schools with each of these types of drills, the percentages of those that held them three or more times per year were 43 percent for lockdown drills, 70 percent for evacuation drills, and 37 percent for shelter-in-place drills.
    • Among the 59 percent of schools that perform active assailant drills (significantly fewer schools than those previously mentioned), 31 percent conduct them three or more times per year.
  • Eighty-five percent of public schools have a behavioral threat assessment team or other formal group of persons to identify students who might be a potential risk for violent or harmful behavior toward themselves or others, an increase from 82 percent in the 2022–23 school year.
    • Among these schools, 71 percent reported that they have had students who were found to be a potential risk for violent or harmful behavior toward themselves.
    • Among these schools, 49 percent reported that they have had students who were found to be a potential risk for violent or harmful behavior toward others.
  • More than three-quarters of public schools reported implementing each of the following safety-related practices during the 2023–24 school year:
    • Require visitors to sign or check in and wear badges (97 percent)
    • Control access to school buildings during school hours (97 percent)
    • Use one or more security cameras to monitor the school (95 percent)
    • Provide two-way radios to all or select staff (90 percent)
    • Provide an electronic notification system that notifies parents in case of a school-wide emergency (85 percent)
    • Equip classrooms with locks so that doors can be locked from the inside (83 percent)
  • The table below displays the percentages of public schools that reported feeling “very prepared” to handle selected emergency events:
      Event Percentage
      Inclement weather 69
      Suicide threats or incidents 52
      Natural disasters 44
      Utility or systems failures 44
      Pandemic diseases 42
      Intruders 40
      Shooting threats 37
      Bomb threats or incidents 29
      Active shooters 27
      Active armed individuals with a
      weapon other than a firearm
      26
      Chemical or industrial hazards 19

Technical Note

Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and non-sampling error. All comparisons in this statistical press release have been tested and found to be statistically significant unless otherwise noted. NCES statistical tests are generally conducted at a 95 percent level of confidence.

Additional details regarding the methodology, including the survey questionnaire, may found on the School Pulse Panel methodology webpage.

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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 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 De La Rosa, National Center for Education Statistics, ARIS.NCES@ed.gov