General Statement of Job

The Director of Safety is primarily responsible for the oversight, development, implementation, and evaluation of safety protocols and strategies to ensure the physical and operational security of all students, staff, and district properties. This role will work with Athletic Directors in overseeing athletic programs, ensuring compliance with safety, regulations, and fostering student-athlete development. This position also supports district investigations as assigned, contributing to disciplinary reviews, safety incidents, and other risk-related matters.

Reports To:  Assistant Superintendent
FLSA Status: Exempt

Essential Job Function

Develops overall strategic safety and security direction for the school system, including long-range goals and objectives, implementation, and evaluation of safety and security programs for the district and its schools. Makes data-driven decisions about how to organize and align district resources to maximize the safety of students, staff and school/facility communities. 

Develops, improves and communicates policies, procedures and protocols to support a safe school and district climate while mitigating safety and security risks. 

Leads program focused on crisis prevention, mitigation, management, response and evaluation. Plans, develops, recommends, implements and evaluates policies, procedures, protocols, and programs related to safety and security practices in schools and district facilities. Leads and evaluates all safety and security activities and initiatives; builds processes that use data to evaluate safety/security effectiveness and drives results aligned to school, facility and district priorities. 

Ensures compliance with local, state and federal laws and mandates; fulfills monitoring and reporting requirements regarding school/district safety and security.

Collaborates with local law enforcement agencies and SROs with issues on school safety. 

Collaborates with internal and external personnel in planning a standardized response to critical incidents. 

Advises and assists site-based administrators and departmental leaders in assessing and mitigating criminal activity and other safety/security concerns on SCS property. 

Works collaboratively with technology, facilities, maintenance, and other district departments and staff to provide leadership regarding capital needs; helps develop plans to equip schools and departments with assets necessary to ensure the safety of school/district communities. 

Develops, delivers and coordinates relevant and high quality professional development and training for school and district personnel and others as needed to support policy and enforcement, and strengthen prevention, mitigation and response capabilities. 

Collaborates with principals and a variety of school and district personnel, as well as with direct reports, to strengthen and improve school/district safety and security. 

Engages and supports direct reports in identifying their professional goals and executing appropriate professional/career development plans. 

Conducts planning and research activities relating to all aspects of public safety in a public school system environment. 

Conducts educational programs for students, staff, parents, and community members in the interest of crime, accident, fire prevention, bullying/cyberbullying. 

Works with other departments in securing grant funding that supports school and district safety initiatives; prepares and delivers regular reports on school/district safety and security to teachers, principals, district leaders, and the Board of Education. 

Additional Job Functions

Support district-level investigations involving safety, employee conduct, or athletic violations.

Collaborate with Human Resources, legal counsel, and district leadership to investigate employee or student conduct issues.

Collaborate with School-Level Athletic Directors: Provide leadership, guidance, and oversight to school-based athletic directors, ensuring consistency in program implementation and alignment with district-wide goals and standards.

Policy Enforcement and Compliance: Ensure that all athletic programs within the district adhere to Surry County Schools' policies and North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) regulations, providing support and clarity to school-level directors regarding policy interpretation and enforcement.

Coordination of District-Wide Athletic Programs: Oversee the alignment of athletic programs across the district, ensuring consistency in scheduling, eligibility, safety procedures, and resource allocation.

Organize district-wide professional development opportunities for coaches, focusing on best practices, student-athlete health and safety, and compliance with regulatory standards.

Minimum Training and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in Education, Administration, Safety Management, Risk Management, or a related field (Master’s preferred).

Minimum of 5 years of experience in school administration, safety and risk management, or law enforcement.

Experience in conducting investigations and preparing reports.

Excellent leadership, communication, and organizational skills.

Ability to work collaboratively with school administrators, coaches, law enforcement, and the community.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OR STANDARDS REQUIRED TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS 

Physical Requirements: Must be physically able to operate a variety of equipment including computers, copiers, calculators, cellular phones, etc. Must be able to exert up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to lift, carry, push, and pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Light Work usually requires walking or standing to a significant degree. During crisis situations, may require Moderate to Significant Physical Work and lengthy periods of standing while providing on-site assistance, often out of doors, and in temporary locations, such as mobile trailers. 

Data Conception: Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural or composite characteristics (whether similar or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things. 

Interpersonal Communication: Requires the ability to speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information. Includes giving instructions, assignments, or directions to subordinates or assistants. 

Language Ability: Requires the ability to read a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, charts, strategic plans, etc. Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, appraisals, charts, etc., using prescribed formats and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction, and style. Requires the ability to speak before groups of people with poise, voice control, and confidence. 

Intelligence: Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; and to deal with several abstract and concrete variables. 

Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to follow oral and written instructions. Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in Standard English. 

Numerical Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract; multiply and divide; utilize decimals and percentages; and to apply the principles of algebra, descriptive statistics, statistical inference, and statistical theory. 

Form/Spatial Aptitude: Requires the ability to inspect items for proper length, width, and shape. 

Motor Coordination: Requires the ability to coordinate hands and eyes rapidly and accurately in using office equipment. 

Manual Dexterity: Requires the ability to handle a variety of items such as office equipment and hand tools. Must have minimal levels of eye/hand/foot coordination. 

Color Discrimination: Requires the ability to differentiate between colors and shades of color. 

Interpersonal Temperament: Requires the ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions. Must be adaptable to performing under stress and when confronted with emergency situations. 

Physical Communication: Requires the ability to talk and hear: (Talking: expressing or exchanging ideas by means of spoken words. Hearing: perceiving nature of sounds by ear.) Must be able to communicate via telephone.

DISCLAIMER

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees to this job.