Texas High School Principals Perception of Safety and Threat

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2. Surveillance and Resistance in Schools

Abstract

The tragedy of mass school shootings over the past three decades has generated fear among students, parents, and school administrators across the United States. The Columbine High School shooting in 1999 led to an increase in school physical security measures such as metal detectors and police presence (Addington 2009) as well as strict “zero-tolerance” disciplinary policies designed to deter and prevent school violence (Muschert & Peguero 2010). Yet despite these efforts, mass school shootings (although still rare), continued, including the murders of 20 elementary school children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, in 2012, and a decade later, the murder of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. For Texas high school principals, the continued occurrence of mass school shootings and the resulting legislative changes has altered the daily reality of ensuring campus safety. High school principals are tasked with far more responsibility than managing the academic and administrative aspect of their schools. While principals have always been in charge of school safety, their responsibilities have significantly expanded during a time marked by heightened concerns over school violence, particularly mass shootings. Drawing on theories of street-level bureaucracy and the social construction of threat, this study asks: How do high school principals construct and govern multi-dimensional forms of school safety in response to perceived threats? We examine how 60 principals across Texas exercise discretion in prevention and preparedness, and how relational trust within schools shapes the translation of safety mandates into practice. We also consider how broader forms of collective efficacy condition the ways safety is enacted across school contexts.

Authors

• Alyssah Nicole Gonzalez, University of Texas-Austin

• Elizabeth Gershoff, The University of Texas at Austin

• Autumn Morse, The University of Texas at Austin

• Kylee Puga, The University of Texas at Austin

• Abriell Rodriguez, The University of Texas at Austin