Nearly three in four Colorado educators and school staff report that a student has attempted to physically injure them or another adult in their presence, and half report having been physically injured by a student. These findings come from a survey of more than 1,100 educators and school staff conducted for the Colorado Educator Safety Task Force (ESTF), and they helped inform a pilot project at the Centers for Health, Work & Environment (CHWE) at the Colorado School of Public Health.
School safety efforts have traditionally focused on students. Teachers, administrators, counselors, and support staff also play a central role in school safety, and their health and well-being are an important part of the picture. This project focuses on supporting them.
The Colorado Educator Safety Task Force was established by the state legislature through HB24-1320 to examine aggressive and violent behavior by students toward educators and school staff. The task force met monthly from September 2024 through June 2025, and its survey was conducted by Confluence Policy and Strategy Group.
"The message was clear: Educators need more support," says Amy Schamberg, EdS, a Professional Research Assistant and DrPH candidate in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, who served as a member of the task force.
Building on the task force's findings, Designing Safer Schools: Building School Capacity to Prevent and Mitigate Violence was launched. The project aims to understand how school violence affects the educator workforce and to assess the fit of a leadership-based intervention designed to prevent and mitigate violence-related hazards in schools.
To inform this work, the team engaged educators directly. Natalie Schwatka, PhD, MS, an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health and director of the Certificate in Total Worker Health Program, led a design sprint process adapted for the school workforce. The team interviewed 21 educators, including administrators, teachers, HR staff, and school security personnel, and shared early concepts with participants to gather their feedback.
Across urban, rural, charter, and public schools, interview participants described frequent incidents of low-level aggression that are often viewed as part of the job.
"Over time, people can become desensitized to it, both those who experience it and those who witness it," said Schamberg.
Participants shared a range of experiences, including challenging interactions in person and by email, some of which involved families. Special education staff also noted uncertainty about how best to respond to certain student behaviors. The task force survey similarly identified concerns about retaliation as one factor contributing to underreporting across the state.
Colorado schools invest considerable effort in safety, including regular drills and partnerships with law enforcement. Most of these efforts focus on students, and resources dedicated specifically to staff safety and well-being are more limited.
Schamberg notes that schools balance many competing priorities, including limited budgets, limited time, and required academic mandates. Initiatives that are not required can be difficult to prioritize.
Drawing on insights from interviews and a stakeholder workshop, the team is adapting components of two evidence-based tools, the Mental Health Integrated Emergency Preparedness curriculum and CHWE's Built to Last leadership toolkit, into a violence prevention intervention designed for schools. The proposed model includes two main components: leadership training to build support among school and district leaders, and a voluntary, multidisciplinary team that meets to discuss violence and safety concerns within the school.
Each team would tailor its focus to its own school, as needs vary by setting and student age. The model is also designed to integrate with teams and structures schools already have in place, rather than adding a separate program. The long-term goal is to help districts and schools protect staff physical and mental health, strengthen leadership support, and reduce exposure to violence across Colorado.
According to Schamberg, the first step is having a leader who recognizes the value of keeping educators safe and healthy, and who understands that administrators face significant demands as well. "Administrators carry a great deal of responsibility, and they are under strain too," she said. "When you are working with educators who are this passionate, the work can be done."
The team will use educator feedback to refine the intervention and evaluate its effectiveness, including its effects on how schools respond to violence, educator well-being, and teacher retention and turnover.
Schamberg noted that educators' deep commitment to their students often leads them to put their own well-being second. "They deserve to be supported and protected," she said.
Schamberg emphasized that change is possible. "Culture and systems can change," she said. "It does not have to be this way."