I’m Just a Mom.
By PSA CXO Candice Aragon
I’m just a mom. Those were the words I read in my inbox on a Friday evening after a hard week in the wake of the Minneapolis school shooting. As a volunteer for the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools, an online inquiry was passed to me. It started, “I’m just a mom with a passion for school security.”
Similar to my journey, Steph was looking for ways she could make an impact after, yet another, school shooting. My calling had come after the tragedy in Uvalde in 2022. I happen to work in the physical security industry and had heard of PASS, but had never been too knowledgeable on exactly what the group did. I reached out to my connections and asked how I could be involved in a more meaningful way… the rest is history.
So, when I connected with Steph, I knew her concerns. They were the same as my own. We talked about our kids, our jobs, our ongoing fears around school safety and how to spread the word about the PASS guidelines. Steph isn’t in the industry, but she did lots of internet searching and happened upon the PASS guidelines. Then, she read every page. She was astounded to learn there is such a great resource for schools.
She asked the question that I constantly grapple with: how do we get this in front of as many schools as possible? How do we help those schools make sense of it all? Since the beginning of my involvement, I’ve believed parents are the key to spreading the word about the PASS guidelines. Not all of us are technical though, so how do we pitch the guidelines to our kids’ schools and help them understand the value?
Here are my recommendations for parents like Steph and me who want to share the guidelines with their schools:
Audience: Include your school principal, individual responsible for safety (if there is one) and parent organization like a PTO or PTA. If you can find contacts, share with your school board as well as the district contact responsible for safety.
Content: Make the information digestible and easy to understand. I use talking points like this:
As a parent, I know safety is always a top priority for our school. I recently came across a resource that I think could be very helpful: the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) Guidelines. PASS is a national, non-profit coalition of school officials, public safety experts and security professionals that provides free, practical guidelines to help schools improve safety step by step, without guesswork or wasted resources.
Now, for the more detailed information:
The 5 Layers of Protection
PASS organizes safety into layers, so schools can strengthen security inside and out:
District – Policies, training, emergency planning.
Property Perimeter – Fencing, lighting, vehicle control.
Parking Lot Perimeter – Traffic flow, drop-off/pick-up safety.
Building Perimeter – Controlled entrances, visitor management.
Classroom/Interior – Locks, communications, lockdown ability.
Functional Categories
Each layer considers:
Policies & Procedures – emergency plans, drills.
People – training for staff, students, responders.
Technology – cameras, access control, communications.
Facility Design/Hardware – locks, lighting, barriers.
Tiered Approach (1–4)
Schools don’t need to do everything at once. PASS uses tiers so they can start small and grow:
Tier 1 (Essential): Basic, must-have protections.
Tier 2 (Enhanced): Stronger measures within reach.
Tier 3 (Advanced): More comprehensive, resource-intensive.
Tier 4 (Aspirational): Cutting-edge options.
PASS Checklist
PASS includes a Safety & Security Checklist that schools can use to:
Assess current safety measures.
Identify gaps.
Prioritize improvements.
Align plans with funding and grants. A great resource for grants is the Greenlights Grant Initiative. You can use the PASS guidelines to know what items you would like to request funding for, and an organization like Greenlights Grant Initiative can help your school write a grant.
Format
I’ve been using e-mail to open the door and requesting an in-person meeting on the topic. Likewise, you can find out when your next school board meeting is, or PTO/PTA meeting, and ask for this item to be placed on the agenda. You can also use social media to spread the word to other parents. I filmed a reel on Instagram and received great interaction. Likewise, I have shared the reel with some “mom influencers.”
I also intend on sharing the same information with my elected officials. Casting as wide of a net as possible to help people understand there is another facet to the school safety discussion that is usually left out of the media dialogue. If you are just a mom like Steph and me, you can help too.
Candice Aragon is PSA’s CXO. This article was written for Safe Schools Week, Oct. 19-25, 2025, to raise awareness of the resources available to parents to help make schools safer.
To learn more about the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools, click here.