2009 School Safety Index

The 2009 School Safety Index indicates that security breaches at K-12 schools are on the rise.

The School Safety Index is conducted by CDW-G, this being the third year the index report has been published. The aim of the survey is to create a national benchmark to gauge the current state of school safety issues, looking at both IT and physical security in public school districts. This year, the survey includes data from 400 K-12 district IT and security directors across the US.

According to the 2009 report, the National Average for both Physical Security and Cyber Security was "below the bell curve," with the Index is much lower. For Cyber Security, the index was 22.2, lower the 38.6 reported in last year's survey. 55% of the districts reported experiencing an IT breach (unauthorized user access, hacking or virus) in the last year. Of those, 41% originated from students, with another 22% from staff or employees. On the physical side, 67% reported an unauthorized person in the school building or vandalism.

The explanation for the Index decline was given as:

"Continued threats, such as breaches and lack of end-user compliance, coupled with budget and staffing challenges make progress difficult"

Via eschoolnews