Joey Melvin has over two decades of experience in law enforcement, emergency management and school safety. He is the executive director of the Delaware School Safety Center.
As summer begins to wind down, it is once again time for many of us to prepare for the return to school.
The emotions surrounding the words “back to school” are wide-ranging. Nervous parents are preparing to send their kindergartners through the school doors for the very first time. There are households with middle schoolers whose guardians may be more than ready to return to routines and perhaps enjoy refrigerators that stay full for more than a day.
Behind the scenes, custodial teams have worked diligently throughout the summer, preparing buildings and bringing hallways and floors back to their familiar shine. Educators have already begun working, reviewing incoming rosters, preparing classrooms and thinking about the students who will soon fill their rooms.
Administrators are planning. School secretaries are preparing for busy front offices. Transportation staff are mapping routes. School resource officers are preparing to welcome students back. Coaches, counselors, nurses, food service workers, paraprofessionals and countless others are getting ready to do their parts.
No matter your lens, at some point, everyone involved in our schools thinks about safety.
As we prepare for another school year, I want to remind Delaware’s students, families, educators and communities that efforts to create safe, supportive and positive learning environments continue every day across our state.
School safety is not a single program, person, piece of technology or locked door. It is a shared responsibility built upon prevention, preparedness, relationships, communication and the willingness to continually evaluate how we can do better.
At the Delaware School Safety Center of the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, that philosophy guides our work.
Over the past year, we have continued working alongside schools and public safety partners to strengthen emergency preparedness across Delaware. Schools develop and maintain comprehensive emergency operations plans, practice standardized response protocols, participate in exercises to test readiness and work directly with first responders, so relationships and expectations can be established long before an emergency occurs.
We have also strengthened our focus on preventing violence before it can occur. All public and private schools in Delaware can now implement SafeDE, the state’s anonymous reporting tool, giving students, parents and community members a way to report safety concerns 24/7. SafeDE also connects students in crisis with certified counselors and other resources outside of school hours. Delaware has also developed a statewide behavioral threat assessment model to help schools identify concerning behavior, assess risk and, importantly, connect students with appropriate interventions and support.
Our team continues to conduct physical safety and security assessments in schools, identifying opportunities to strengthen facilities, while recognizing an important balance: A secure school must still be a welcoming place for students to learn.
We also continue working with our partners on emergency communication, reunification planning, crisis response and other challenges facing today’s schools. Our team walks school hallways with administrators and first responders. We sit at tables with educators, counselors, law enforcement officers, emergency managers and community partners. We continue to provide training and resources for the professionals entrusted with school safety, from school resource officers and constables to administrators, educators and front office staff.
We listen to the challenges schools are facing and work together to develop practical solutions that make sense for Delaware.
But perhaps the most important school safety resource in our state cannot be purchased, installed or written into an emergency plan.
It is people.
It is the teacher who notices that a student isn’t acting like him- or herself. It is the classmate who tells an adult about something concerning. It is the custodian who notices a door isn’t securing properly. It is the secretary who recognizes something unusual in the front office. It is the counselor who provides a safe place for a student struggling with something outside of school. It is the first responder who takes the time to learn a school before ever being called there during an emergency.
It is the relationships built every day between students and the adults entrusted with their education and well-being.
So, as backpacks are packed, classrooms are prepared, buses return to the roads and those freshly polished hallways once again fill with students, I would ask everyone to remember one thing: You have a role in school safety.
Pay attention. Build relationships. Report concerns. Ask questions. Learn your school’s emergency procedures. And, perhaps most importantly, make sure the young people in our schools know there is a trusted adult who will listen when they need one.
No plan can anticipate every circumstance, and no security measure can eliminate every risk. What we can do is continue to prepare, communicate, build relationships and learn.
Soon, our schools will once again be filled with backpacks, conversations, laughter, hurried footsteps and probably a few students already asking how many days remain until the next break.
That is exactly what our schools should be filled with.
As we begin the 2026-27 year, the Delaware School Safety Center at DEMA remains committed to working alongside our schools, families, students, educators and public safety partners to ensure that Delaware’s schools remain places where students can safely learn, grow and succeed.
Have a safe and successful school year.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
