New School Safety Tool Uses "Crowdsourcing" Technology to Make K12 Schools Safer

    MESA, AZ, March 17, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- To help school districts across the United States address critical issues of safety, VisdomK12, a technology company providing crowdsourcing solutions for K12 educators and The National School Safety Center, announced the release of the School Safety Review tool.

Using a crowdsourcing technology, school administrators are able to capture the collective wisdom of district stakeholders and highlight potential areas of concern. It is the first time this kind of crowdsourcing technology has been used to assess school safety. The company has already earned strong endorsements from state school boards associations and the leading association of school superintendents in the U.S. who issued a press release on March 9 endorsing this technology.

"The School Safety Review can be implemented, launched, and completed faster than the time it takes to schedule a public meeting to discuss school safety," said Craig Beytien, Senior Managing Partner with VisdomK12. "Imagine going to your next school board meeting with a dashboard of school safety results representing hundreds of stakeholders from a school district. This tool brings the 'wisdom of the crowd' into an actionable context that school districts can use immediately."

The School Superintendents Association (AASA), the nation's premier organization representing school district leadership, has encouraged it members to utilize this new technology in their school districts.

"Our children have a right to live and learn in a safe environment," said Daniel A. Domenech, executive director, AASA. "School Safety is a huge priority in our country. We are pleased to launch this partnership with VisdomK12 because it shows we are taking steps to put teeth in our efforts to stop the violence and address a wide range of safety threats and hazards that face our schools today. We hope to see our members take advantage of this online initiative."

"Some people have compared the diagnostic value of the School Safety Review to a CAT Scan or MRI," said Beytien. "It confirms what is normal and functioning as it highlights areas of concern that may require a closer look by district administrators and trained professionals."

Beytien added that the School Safety Review does not by itself correct or remediate weaknesses and areas of concerns, but by leveraging the collective wisdom of stakeholders, districts are able to identify areas where staff training, plan improvement or other professional intervention might be useful.

"Implementing a school safety assessment is one step school district officials can take today to insure that their school environments are safe and secure," Beytien said. "It could be the safest decision a district can make today."

Joining AASA in endorsing this new tool, the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) issued its own press release encouraging school boards in New York State and school boards nationally to take a close look at the VisdomK12 technology and the School Safety Review in particular.

"NYSSBA and VisdomK12 aim to provide school districts across the state with an important tool for gaining feedback from all who are impacted by the decisions they make - and help them make better ones," said NYSSBA Executive Director Timothy G. Kremer. "In particular, our goal is to help create safe, secure and peaceful schools."

VisdomK12, a division of The Grandview Group is committed to making schools safer places to learn, work, and play. Based in Mesa, AZ, the company has developed an innovative suite of crowdsourcing technology to help school districts make more informed, evidence-based decisions using their collaborative review and assessment platform.

CONTACT
Renee Covert or David Brake
Visdom K12, A Division of the Grandview Group
877-845-8449 x816
[email protected]

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