September 2025: 

The MLO Minute:  “September is Campus Safety Awareness Month” — 

By Rachel Rosenberg, Esq., Attorney in the Special Education Department, McAndrews Law Offices — 

September is Campus Safety Awareness Month, which is a federally recognized awareness month dedicated to promoting violence prevention and safety within higher education institutions. This was established by Congress in 2008, meant to encourage conversations about safety on college campuses. These concerns can range from sexual assault and gun violence to substance abuse and bullying.

Of course, awareness of safety concerns and the need to address them go far beyond college campuses – it is important to consider safety at all levels of education, especially as it relates to students with disabilities. Some students with disabilities can be particularly vulnerable to safety concerns in an educational setting. For instance, up to 20% of students between ages 12 and 18 experience bullying in the U.S. each year, and students with disabilities can often be targets of this bullying. Moreover, only 44% of victims of bullying notify an adult at school about that bullying. Additionally, students with disabilities are not only particularly vulnerable to being victims of violence at school – they are also sometimes vulnerable to engaging in violence, particularly if they are not provided appropriate social, emotional, and behavioral support.

As such, it is essential that Local Education Agencies (“LEAs”) do everything in their power to not only monitor campuses for bullying and other safety concerns, and put a stop to it, but also provide accommodations for its students with disabilities who are both potential victims of safety concerns and potential perpetrators. There are a variety of accommodations an LEA can put in place to prevent these concerns from taking place, such as counseling and other mental health supports. If they are failing to do so, there are a variety of remedies that may be available to you.

If you have concerns about safety at your child’s school or if you believe the school is not doing everything it can to accommodate for your child’s needs, as they relate to campus safety or otherwise, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our firm provides free consultations in all special education matters, and most cases are handled without charge to families. Families should not hesitate to reach out to us by CLICKING HERE or by calling any of our phone numbers on our website.