Beyond the Headlines: What We Miss at School Safety Conferences

By John Huber

I’ve just returned from the 2025 National School Safety Conference in Las Vegas, and as always, it was an energizing and valuable experience. The sessions were full of insights, passionate speakers, and a shared commitment to protecting our students and schools.

But one thing stood out to me: almost every conversation circled back to one theme—school shootings.

Of course, no one disputes the importance of active shooter preparedness. It’s one of the most serious threats schools can face. But if we allow that singular focus to dominate the school safety conversation, we’re missing the bigger picture.

School Safety Is More Than School Shooters

Real school safety doesn’t start with lockdown drills or tactical responses—it starts with relationships. Specifically, the professional partnership between schools and law enforcement.

This was the core of the breakout session I presented at the conference: “Breaking the Cycle: How Strong SRO–School Relationships Can Prevent Incidents.”

Using real-world examples, I showed how weak or poorly defined partnerships between schools and police often lead to disaster—not necessarily in the form of a school shooting, but in what I call the “YouTube Moment.” Those viral incidents where a school resource officer (SRO) or administrator makes a misstep, it’s caught on video, and suddenly the entire district is dealing with backlash, legal liability, and lost trust.

Professional Partnerships Matter

When I talk about school–police partnerships, I’m not referring to the casual interactions we often picture: an SRO giving high-fives at the front door or chatting with students about last night’s game. Those positive gestures have their place, but true safety comes from a professional, clearly defined partnership between school leaders and law enforcement leaders.

That means:

• Written agreements (MOUs) that clearly define roles and responsibilities.
• Regular communication and joint planning between administrators and police supervisors.
• Training that ensures both sides understand where discipline ends and where law enforcement begins.

When these elements are in place, schools don’t just avoid viral incidents—they build trust, prevent escalation, and create safer learning environments for everyone.

Moving the Conversation Forward

The National School Safety Conference remains an important event, and I look forward to attending again. But as a field, we need to broaden our conversations. School safety isn’t just about the worst-case scenario. It’s about the everyday systems, relationships, and leadership decisions that keep schools safe and functional year-round.

That’s where the real work—and the real prevention—begins.