Most K-12 schools have developed stringent procedures for receiving complaints from students, staff and the public. These procedures often require input from several different parties and must comply with state and federal laws.

For example, once a report is made to the Title IX District Personnel, the school investigator quickly launches an investigation. Once complete, the Title IX Hearing Team decides on disciplinary action. Then, administrators must share the results of the investigation with the student's parents, enforce disciplinary action and submit a report.

After, if appropriate, the health and safety or the security team must focus on improving their prevention efforts so the same incident does not happen again.

With so many people working on one project, sometimes in different buildings, schools or cities, it's difficult to keep everything on track. K-12 schools that use student conduct investigation software are able to conduct more streamlined, organized and effective investigations.

Learn the many ways that investigation software improves K-12 school safety in our eBook. 

1. Collaborate and Work More Quickly

To work together effectively, schools and school districts need more than a paper-based system with endless spreadsheets and emails. Student conduct investigation software is specifically designed to let schools, boards and districts work together collaboratively, saving time and reducing overall workload.

Not only does software help with collaboration efforts, but it also speeds up the entire investigation process. When data is accessible across the district, investigators and administrators can work together to resolve complaints quickly and get back to the most important thing: education.

2. Built-in Barriers Help You Comply

K-12 schools must comply with Erin’s Law, Title IX, FERPA, ESSA and many more regulations. Everything from how long it takes to launch an investigation to how a student’s personal information is stored is regulated by law.

On top of federal and state law, school districts often have their own rules. It’s unrealistic to expect everyone involved in the process to know their legal obligations. Student conduct investigation software offers built-in compliance.

Built-in compliance keeps schools safer by keeping private information private. With role-based access, those involved in the investigation process can view, edit or delete only the information necessary to do their work. This helps prevent sensitive information from getting out into the public domain.

3. Data Drives Prevention

Student conduct investigation software compiles immense amounts of incident, investigation and resolution data. All of this data helps schools make better, safer decisions to aid in prevention.

For example, let’s say that over the course of two years, reports show that Building B has been cited for safety violations 16 times. The next most common location for an incident to occur is in Building E, but it’s only been named twice. It’s obvious then that Building B, for one reason or another, requires attention.

With this information, the Security Team can brainstorm ways to improve safety in that building specifically. Small changes, such as better lighting, cameras or a security guard, can all enhance the safety of the area. It just takes integrated software to analyze data, identify trends and reveal the problem.

4. Software Deters Future Incidents

Student conduct investigation software makes it easy to create data-driven prevention strategies that actually work for your school’s needs. However, it’s also a powerful deterrent that prevents students from misbehaving in the first place.

With the hotline feature, any person can file a complaint at any time, and often anonymously. If a potential bully knows this, they’re less likely to bully others because they know how easily and quickly they can be reported. The ease at which bad behavior can be reported will encourage students to start thinking twice about the decisions they make.

In the end, this means not only safe schools and happy students, but fewer incidents and less work for you too.