The School Safety Workforce Is Growing Beyond Traditional Security Roles

For years, school safety practitioners have emphasized that creating safe schools requires more than physical security measures. Access control, surveillance cameras, school resource officers, weapons detection systems, and emergency planning remain essential, but they represent only part of a comprehensive school safety strategy.

Recent developments point to growing demand for professionals who support comprehensive school safety. Across higher education, district hiring initiatives, federal funding priorities, and recent research, more organizations are investing in the people who contribute to prevention, preparedness, and student support.

Growing Student Needs Are Reshaping the School Safety Workforce

The 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book found that education outcomes have declined since 2019 despite improvements in some other measures of child well-being. Around the same time, a national youth wellness report identified loneliness as the top concern among K–12 students, highlighting the importance of connection and belonging.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has highlighted belonging as a key component of school safety, noting that students who feel connected to their school community are better positioned to learn, seek help when needed, and contribute to a positive school climate.

The need for additional professionals is also reflected in existing staffing shortages. These workforce gaps help explain why recent investments increasingly focus on expanding the pipeline of counselors, psychologists, emergency managers, and other professionals who contribute to safer schools.

Those workforce gaps are reflected in recent data from the American School Counselor Association, which found the national student-to-school-counselor ratio improved to 372:1 during the 2024–2025 school year, but remains well above the recommended 250:1 benchmark. Only four states currently meet that recommendation, while 17% of high schools have no school counselor at all.

Schools Are Expanding the School Safety Workforce

Efforts to strengthen the school safety workforce are taking shape in multiple ways. In New York, the Syracuse City School District was awarded a $4 million federal grant to recruit, train, and hire additional school psychologists.

Higher education institutions are also helping expand the workforce pipeline. Southern Arkansas University recently launched a new emergency management degree program designed to prepare future emergency management professionals. Kean University also received federal funding to expand the pipeline of school psychologists serving high-need school districts through supervised, school-based training.

Other universities are taking similar approaches. Nazareth University recently launched a new school psychology master's program and, through a federal grant, is providing stipends and school-based internships to help prepare the next generation of school psychologists. Central Michigan University has also created a School Psychology Apprentice program that places graduate students in K–12 schools early in their training to strengthen the profession's workforce pipeline.

Federal investments are also supporting other areas of the education workforce. The U.S. Department of Education recently announced a funding opportunity aimed at preparing additional special education, early intervention, and related services personnel, while schools in northern Michigan received funding to help address ongoing teacher shortages.

Together, these efforts suggest schools are strengthening both the current school safety workforce and the pipeline of future professionals who support prevention, preparedness, and student well-being.

Federal Funding Priorities Reflect the Same Shift

Recent federal funding opportunities reinforce this broader approach. Alongside longstanding investments in physical security through programs such as the School Violence Prevention Program, newly announced grants prioritize trauma-informed services, youth overdose prevention, and other initiatives that support prevention and student well-being. Collectively, these funding priorities suggest the federal government continues to invest in both school security infrastructure and the people and programs that contribute to comprehensive school safety.

School Safety Is a Team Effort

If there's one theme that comes up repeatedly in NCSSD discussions, it's that school safety is a shared responsibility. Members frequently describe effective school safety as a partnership that extends well beyond the security office, bringing together school leadership, student support services, facilities and operations, technology, transportation, and law enforcement.

Each group plays a different role. Teachers and counselors are often the first to notice when a student may need additional support. School psychologists help address behavioral and mental health concerns. Emergency managers focus on planning and preparedness. Facilities and operations staff help maintain secure learning environments, while technology teams support emergency communications and security systems. School safety directors help connect those efforts, ensuring departments are working toward the same goal.

None of this means technology is becoming less important. Access control, emergency communications, and other security measures remain foundational to school safety. What's changing is the growing investment in the people and partnerships that support those tools. It's an approach school safety practitioners have championed for years—one that's increasingly reflected across research, hiring, higher education, and federal funding priorities.