School Safety

Know about a threat or a school safety risk?

Notify any SUSD employee or
Silent Witness Tip Line: 480-WITNESS (948-6377)

Submit a Tip Online

Sep 30, 2024

We know when you drop your child off for school each day, you are putting your trust in us to keep them safe. Protecting every student is a priority that is woven into the fabric of how the Scottsdale Unified School District works to deliver an exceptional educational experience. Placing school resource officers, school counselors and school social workers on school campuses is only part of our approach to achieving safe supportive schools.

Our safety motto is DIG-IT (Doors, Identification, Gates and IT (cyber security)).

The expectation is that classroom doors are locked and not propped open, students and staff wear their ID badges and that all visitors show ID and sign in in the front office. All gates on campus should also be locked unless they are manned.

The Scottsdale Unified School District is a leader in the state and nation when it comes to threat assessments and interventions. Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) is an evidence-based practice for schools to use in conducting threat assessments of students developed by Dr. Dewey Cornell, University of Virginia, and adopted by the Arizona Department of Education. Scottsdale’s own Shannon Cronn, Director of Support Services, is one of 27 CSTAG trainers available to provide training to Arizona schools.

Emotional and physical safety in school is related to increased academic performance. Our mission is to provide, support, promote and enhance safe and effective learning environments for all students through a multipronged approach.

View our Safety and Security brochure.

We all have a stake in creating physically and emotionally safe schools and SUSD’s comprehensive school safety plan includes a broad range of stakeholders:

• School administrators
• Teachers
• Mental health professionals (counselors and social workers)
• Nurses
• School resource officers
• Students
• Parents
• Community members

Students are often the first to become aware of threats, and that is why we encourage them to report anything out of the ordinary or suspicious to a trusted, on-campus adult. We call it the “see something, say something” rule. We encourage you to have a conversation with your student(s) about the necessity of immediately reporting to a school administrator or teacher the possession of any weapon, drugs or vaping devices on campus. Bringing a weapon onto a school campus is a violation of state law, city ordinances and the school district's Code of Conduct. Please take this opportunity to remind your students of the law and that violations of it are serious matters with serious consequences. Witnessed incidents of bullying, harassment, and intimidation should be reported as soon as possible. Working together will help ensure that our school campuses remain safe and nurturing places for students to learn and for our staff to work.

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