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Responding to Gangs in the School Setting

By: Michelle Arciaga, Wayne Sakamoto, and Errika Fearbry Jones

No. 1 February 2007

Introduction

Gangs are present in many schools in the United States. 

The National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance 

Abuse XV: Teens and Parents, released in August 2010 

by the National Center on Addiction and Substance 

Abuse, reported that:

Forty-five percent of high school students say 

that there are gangs or students who consider 

themselves to be part of a gang in their 

schools. 

Thirty-five percent of middle-school students 

say that there are gangs or students who 

consider themselves to be part of a gang in their 

schools.

The differences between public and private schools are 

stark. While 46 percent of students in public schools 

reported the presence of gangs and gang members at 

school, only 2 percent of private school students did.

According to the School Crime Supplement to the 

National Crime Victimization Survey (2007), 23 percent 

of students reported the presence of gangs on their 

school campus or in the surrounding area in 2007. This 

represents an increase in the percentage of students 

reporting gangs on/around campus in 2003 (21 percent). 

Schools in urban areas appear to be the most affected 

by the presence of gangs: 36 percent of urban students 

reported gangs, versus 21 percent of suburban and 

16 percent of rural students in 2005.

In a survey of students conducted in almost 

1,300 schools nationwide (Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 

2001), 7.6 percent of male respondents and 3.8 percent 

of female respondents at the secondary level reported 

that they belonged to a gang. Based on the increased 

number of students reporting a gang presence at 

school between 2001 and 2010, this number has likely 

increased, although no subsequent nationwide studies 

have been conducted.

Gang members do not leave their conflicts, attitudes, 

and behaviors outside the school doors. Some of the 

most dangerous gang activities in any community may 

take place in and around local schools. Gang members 

encounter each other at school during class changes, in 

the lunchroom, in common areas, and during assemblies 

and school events. Students may loiter on or around 

the school campus before and after school, and conflicts 

may occur between rival gangs. In some instances, 

gang members come to school to engage in criminal 

behavior (drug dealing) or to confront rivals.

Because of the potential for violent gang interactions at 

school, school staff members and administrators need to 

formulate a plan to deal with gang activity. This article 

provides an overview of action steps that schools can 

take to prevent, intervene in, and suppress violent gang 

activity, as well as crisis response plans that can be 

developed to address potential acts of school violence 

including, but not limited to, gang activity.

Why Schools May Deny Gang 

Problems

In some instances, schools have operated like islands in 

the larger community, with school administrators and 

staff believing they are immune to community problems 

or failing to recognize the signs of gang activity at 

school. In other instances, heavy-handed responses 

to gangs have pushed gang-involved youth away from 

school and educational opportunities, exacerbating 

community and individual gang problems. 

For a number of reasons, denial seems to be especially 

prevalent among school administrators. Although only a 

very small percentage of principals (5 percent) reported 

the presence of gangs in their schools, more than 

one-third (36 percent) reported the presence of gangs in 

the immediate community. Interestingly enough, this 

study reports that “in the 10 percent of schools with the 

highest student gang participation rates (14.4 percent 

or more of students reporting gang participation), only 

18 percent of the principals” reported the presence of 

gangs. (Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 2001).

There are many reasons that school personnel may not 

acknowledge the existence of gangs.

First, in many cases, school staff and administrators do 

not recognize gang activity when they see it. Training 

and preparation are crucial to an effective response to 

gangs in the learning environment.

No. 5 November 2010

Bureau of Justice Assistance

U.S. Department of Justice

National Gang Center Bulletin
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Second, for many school administrators, public admission 

that the school has a population of gang members might 

seem like a failure to properly control the school climate. 

It is important for school administrators to realize that 

there is no shame attached to the presence of gang 

members in school. The only shame lies in failing to 

adequately prepare for or address the needs of ganginvolved students.

Third, school-choice laws that have been passed in 

many areas make it possible for parents to remove 

their children from a particular school. Schools with a 

reputation for having a gang problem can lose students. 

Other negative ramifications for school administrators 

and the school itself may include loss of funding due to 

population decreases. However, failing to adequately 

address gang problems can lead to increased risk of 

victimization in the school setting for both students and 

staff members. Schools must walk the fine line between 

overreacting to the gang problem and attempting to 

hide or downplay it.

Finally, schools may be reluctant to share information 

on gang activity in and around the school for fear of 

violating confidentiality laws. In most cases, this is also 

a training issue. Schools can legally share information on 

gang-involved students across agency boundaries with 

a number of key agencies, including law enforcement 

and juvenile probation/parole. Schools also have a 

responsibility to continually share information on policies 

and procedures relating to gangs with parents and 

students. In addition, schools and law enforcement 

can and should share information about gang-related 

incidents involving students on campus or in the 

community. This shared information can help these 

entities prevent further acts of retaliation and violence.

Most schools and school districts that have openly 

addressed gang problems have found that students and 

staff members, as well as parents and the community, 

are safer and feel more secure.

Assessing School Gang 

Problems

Conducting a comprehensive assessment of gang 

activity in and around the school is a critical piece 

of responding effectively to gangs. This assessment 

should consider a number of factors:

1) Local demographics: What does the local 

community look like, and has this changed over time? 

What factors locally including family structure, native 

language, immigration status, economic issues, and 

educational attainment levels within the home are 

affecting students? 

2) Crime and law enforcement data: Schools should 

build a partnership with local law enforcement 

agencies for the purposes of sharing data, exchanging 

information on gang-related incidents, and partnering 

on school safety issues. Law enforcement data can 

help to determine the level and extent of gang crime 

in the local community, which then plays a role in 

the school’s response to gangs. Schools in an urban 

community with a serious level of gang-related violence 

need to adopt a range of prevention, intervention, and 

suppression policies and programs. Schools in areas 

with a less serious level of gang offending can focus 

primarily on prevention and intervention activities, and 

building a collaborative gang prevention network with 

partner agencies.

Schools also need to consider collecting data on 

gang-involved incidents that occur in and around the 

school. Many schools do not factor in gang affiliation 

or motivation when disciplinary incidents occur within 

the school setting. Gang-related bullying, assaults, 

thefts, harassment, and other incidents involving gang 

members at school can easily erupt into more serious 

situations without an appropriate response that takes 

gang affiliations and motivations into consideration. 

Schools that do collect this information find that they 

are better able to appropriately respond to future gang 

incidents. For instance, when the Pittsburgh public 

school district started to collect information on gang 

incidents at school, officials found that they were able 

to develop a preemptive crisis response targeting 

known gang members with conflict resolution and 

mediation strategies that led to the prevention of several 

potentially violent incidents in school.

Schools must identify the level and extent of gang 

involvement in disciplinary problems and must examine 

each incident carefully, particularly with the input 

of school resource officers or security personnel to 

determine appropriate responses. The following factors 

should be considered: What were the motivations for 

the incident? What were the related causal factors? 

What individuals and/or groups were involved? What 

follow-up should occur with these groups?

3) Student and staff perceptions: What do school 

personnel think about gang activity in and around 

the school? What gang activities and behaviors are 

teachers, administrators, counselors, secretaries, 

cafeteria workers, custodians, athletic staff, and 

security/law enforcement) observing? What problems 

do students report that are associated with gangs?

4) Resources: What programs, staff, funding, 

and resources (including local community and 

governmental agencies) are available to address gang 

problems in and around the school? What partners 

should be engaged?

Failing to adequately address 

gang problems can lead to 

increased risk of victimization 

in the school setting for both 

students and staff members.
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A template for conducting a gang assessment that 

can easily be adapted to the needs of individuals 

schools and districts is found in “A Guide to 

Assessing Your Community’s Youth Gang Problem,” 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/ComprehensiveGang-Model/Assessment-Guide.

The assessment should identify the level of impact of 

local gangs in and around the school, factors that are 

potentially contributing to or exacerbating the problem, 

and considerations for responding, whether these 

are cultural, familial, and/or economic. For maximum 

effectiveness, the assessment should drive the actions 

of the school in implementing gang-related policies 

and programs.

School-Based Gang Prevention

School personnel must create a systemic approach 

to reduce and prevent gang involvement. School 

administrators should develop a diverse task force 

composed of administrators, staff members, students, 

law enforcement, and other agencies/businesses. The 

task force will assess the impact gangs have on the 

school, identify gangs in the local neighborhood, and 

develop strategies to eliminate gang behaviors from 

the school campus. Part of this systemic approach 

includes developing action plans that prevent and 

intervene in gangs.

Schoolwide gang prevention efforts include many of the 

points discussed previously, including gang awareness, 

classroom management, dress-code policies, and 

provision of mentors and role models. Prevention efforts 

could include:

•	Providing students with skills and knowledge to

help them avoid gang involvement. For example, 

schools may opt to utilize the Gang Resistance 

Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program, in 

which trained law enforcement officers provide 

skills-based classroom lessons in elementary 

and middle schools. G.R.E.A.T. officers and 

deputies also may provide summer activities 

and a family-strengthening curriculum.

•	Implementingafter-school activities thatprovide

youth with opportunities to become involved 

with positive groups and to develop skills that 

will allow them to stay out of gangs. These 

programs offer youth structured and skills-based 

programming during critical times when many 

youth may be unsupervised and on the streets. 

After-school programs are an opportunity to 

extend the school day and provide additional 

academic support and development. Research 

has indicated that early academic success is a 

protective factor against gangs and delinquent 

behaviors. After-school programs also offer 

an opportunity for youth to bond with positive 

role models and learn new social-emotional 

skills. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America 

utilize a “targeted prevention” approach that 

identifies youth who may be at high risk of 

gang involvement because of a number of risk 

factors, including gang involvement by other 

family members. These youth are targeted or 

selected for involvement in prevention efforts 

through after-school programs in many areas. 

This approach also could be replicated by school 

staff and paraprofessionals in areas where such 

programs are not available.

•	Involving parents in gang prevention efforts. 

Schools may serve as hubs where parents 

are trained in gang awareness and strategies 

to keep their children out of gangs. Parents 

also may be recruited to protect the safety of 

students in and around the school campus 

simply by being visibly present before, after, 

and during school hours. One such program, 

Parents on Patrol, places trained parents at 

critical places in the community where they 

report any problems or safety concerns to the 

school or law enforcement. Many students 

must walk home through gang territories, where 

they may become targets of the local gang, or 

are driven to the gang out of fear and the need 

for protection. Safe-passage programs offer 

support, supervision, and protection for these 

youth to and from school and give parents 

or community members ownership in gang 

prevention and safety.

T h e O J J D P S t r a t e g i c P l a n n i n g To o l , 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/SPT, developed 

by the National Gang Center, provides a list of 

research-based activities that are best practices for 

prevention among school-aged children (6–17). The 

following are applicable to schools, but some may 

require a collaborative approach in conjunction with 

other agencies:

•	Provide family strengthening/effectiveness

training to improve parenting skills, build life 

skills in youth, and strengthen family bonds. 

•	Promote emotional and social competencies

in elementary school-aged children, while 

simultaneously enhancing the educational 

process in the classroom. 

•	Increase prosocial peer bonds, and strengthen

students’ attachment and commitment to 

schools. 

•	Increase teachers’ classroom management,

interactive teaching, and cooperative learning 

skills. 

•	Develop gender-specific programs.

•	Improve parents’ involvement in and support

for their children’s academic progress. 

•	Steer at-risk youth from delinquent peers to

prosocial groups and provide positive peer 

modeling. 
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•	Engage community groups, individuals, and

institutions to respond to the multiple needs 

of youth and their families through case 

management for the highest-risk youth and 

their families; provide an array of services, 

after-school activities, and community activities 

to strengthen families. 

•	Mobilize community leaders and Boys & Girls

Club staff to recruit at-risk and gang-involved 

youth into club programs in a nonstigmatizing 

way through direct outreach efforts to discuss 

local gang issues, and design a strategy to offer 

youth alternatives to the gang lifestyle. 

•	Educate youth to modify their perception that

gang membership is beneficial. 

•	Involve grassroots organizations in the creation

of violence-free zones. 

•	Provide social support for disadvantaged and

at-risk youth from helping teachers, responsible 

adults, parents, and peers. 

•	Provide after-school programs.

School-Based Gang Intervention

Gang intervention in schools can take two separate 

approaches. The whole-school approach sets strict 

standards of behavior including enforced dress-code 

policies that do not allow any gang identifiers or 

paraphernalia. The whole-school approach ensures 

that all staff members are trained in the latest gang 

trends and identifiers and that they monitor gang 

members very closely. Gang-involved students who 

violate dress codes and behavior codes are suspended 

or expelled from the school depending on the severity 

of infractions. This approach works best if the school 

adds a prescriptive reentry program for the suspended 

or expelled students. The reentry program may include 

parenting classes for parents and guardians of ganginvolved students. The program also may include 

counseling, mental health assistance, and socialemotional skill development efforts that the student 

must complete before being allowed to transition from 

alternative education into a traditional school. Schools 

also may include student-assistance programs that help 

youth learn the skills needed to succeed in meeting the 

schools’ behavior guidelines.

The individual gang intervention approach seeks to 

direct gang-involved students away from the gang. 

While still enforcing gang dress codes and behavior 

codes, this approach actively seeks to provide ganginvolved students with skills and support to allow them 

to remove themselves from the gang life. Schools may 

opt to do this as a pull-out program, pulling students 

out of classes on a rotational basis so they do not 

miss the same class twice in a row. The approach 

also may be used as a lunchtime program, a Saturday 

school program, an opportunity class, or on-campus 

suspension. Whatever the mechanism, the approach is 

to provide students with connections, knowledge, skills, 

and motivation to begin to remove themselves from the 

gang and negative gang-related behaviors. The San 

Diego County Office of Education has implemented a 

strong school-based gang intervention effort. It includes 

a 16-week curriculum designed for gang members to 

first identify and process the consequences of gang 

involvement before moving on to skill development. The 

approach allows gang-involved students to connect or 

bond with a positive role model and provides them with 

community-service opportunities.

T h e O J J D P S t r a t e g i c P l a n n i n g To o l , 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/SPT, also provides 

a list of research-based activities that are best practices 

for intervention with school-aged children (ages 6–17).

•	Build a comprehensive framework for the

integration of child and adolescent services 

programming that links the juvenile justice 

system with human service and other related 

agencies, including schools, child welfare 

services, mental health agencies, and social 

services. 

•	Create an infrastructure consisting of client

information exchange, cross-agency client 

referrals, a networking protocol, interagency 

councils, and service integration. 

•	Target potential and current serious, violent,

chronic gang-involved juvenile offenders for 

resource priority. 

•	Provide case managementby aparticular agency

for case conferencing and to coordinate services 

for offenders and the families of gang youth. 

•	Provide mentoring of at-risk and gang youths,

counseling, referral services, gang conflict 

mediation, and anti-gang programs at schools 

in the community. 

•	Provide close supervision and monitoring

of gang-involved youth by agencies of the 

juvenile/criminal justice system and also by 

community-based agencies, schools, and 

grassroots groups. 

•	Provide intensive probation supervision linked

with more structured behavioral and/or skillbuilding and multimodal interventions. 

•	Provide direct placement and referral of youth

for employment, training, education, and 

supervision. 

•	Provide alternatives to gang involvement,

including remedial and enriched educational 

programs for gang youth with academic problems 

and vocational and apprentice training. 

Classroom Strategies for Teachers

Classroom teachers are a critical component in gang 

prevention and intervention. Teachers have the best 
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opportunity to connect or bond with students. Students 

who feel connected to the school and its staff are less 

likely to be involved in negative behaviors. Teachers 

should try to increase rapport with all students, 

particularly those who are gang-involved. Some tips 

for teachers include the following:

•	Create a positive classroom climate. The

classroom must be a peaceful and neutral 

space. This means that teachers must 

maintain vigilance over the slightest signs of 

“disrespect,” stare-downs, and challenges. 

This includes the use of gang hand signs, 

symbols, colors, or language.

•	Do not allow gang-type graffiti to be displayed

on notebooks, papers, homework assignments, 

or school property. If graffiti is discovered 

on desks or other school property, the graffiti 

should be reported to the school administrator, 

documented, photographed, shared with local 

law enforcement, and removed immediately.

•	Establish simple and clear rules for behavior

in the classroom. List those rules along 

with possible consequences. Teachers must 

consistently enforce the rules in a calm, 

low-key manner. Gang members need structure 

in the classroom setting and must be disciplined 

for negative or disruptive behaviors. When 

disciplining gang-involved students, teachers 

should always quietly ask them to remain 

after class to discuss rule violations. Adults 

should ensure that a gang-involved student 

does not have his associates with him during 

discussions. This model of discipline has 

been found to work best when dealing with 

gang-involved students.

•	Develop rapport with gang-involved students. 

Rapport is a critical factor in both prevention 

and intervention. If a gang-involved student 

can connect with the adult in the classroom, 

he may come to see the teacher as a role 

model. It also makes discipline much easier. 

Connect with gang-involved youth as much as 

possible outside the classroom, including in the 

hallways and during lunch. Do not be afraid to 

talk to them about their aspirations and hopes 

or about informal matters such as favorite 

sports teams. These informal discussions show 

students that teachers do care for them in and 

out of the classroom, and this facilitates rapport 

and bonding.

Team-Based Information—

Sharing, Case Management, 

and Crisis Response

School staff members are often left alone to decipher and 

interpret student behaviors and then take disciplinary 

actions. Schools can increase their effectiveness by 

bridging the gap between schools and outside agencies. 

One possible approach is to convene a multidisciplinary 

team to case-manage targeted students. This 

team-based approach allows school personnel to enlist 

partners to mobilize resources and give additional 

insight on the student, family, and community dynamics 

that are affecting a student, his peers, and the learning 

environment inside the school.

Ideally, a school-based multidisciplinary team should 

include professionals from various fields, such as mental 

health workers, local law enforcement, local county 

departments (such as children and youth services), 

juvenile probation, youth organizations (for street-level 

information), and faith-based organizations. 

Each team member plays a unique role. Law 

enforcement representatives may observe and report 

on criminal conduct by a student and his family. Local 

youth-serving organizations may have insights into 

community factors affecting the family. The school 

social worker may have information about the student’s 

history and family situation. School representatives 

can speak to the student’s performance and behavior. 

Many times, students are concurrently enrolled in 

numerous programs or have received multiple services. 

In a multidisciplinary team, individualized solutions for 

students can be developed from an open discussion 

that draws on past history, what worked, and what 

did not work. 

Schools may be concerned about sharing information 

about individual students across agency boundaries 

because of student confidentiality laws and policies. 

However, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy 

Act (FERPA) states that school personnel can share 

information about specific students with other 

disciplines as long as this information is related to 

health and safety emergencies. The key issues related to 

serving students with a multidisciplinary approach are 

documenting the health/safety dangers posed by gangs 

in the school setting, as well as having parental consent 

to share information across agency boundaries.

This multidisciplinary team should develop criteria 

for targeting students, such as gang membership, 

demographic factors, school and behavioral history, 

and identified risk factors. The team members 

should identify students needing specialized gang 

interventions and develop service plans to intervene 

with these students (involving other key agencies). This 

work should be documented, and the students should 

receive ongoing case management to ensure that the 

services remain appropriate and are adapted as needed. 

Team members should provide regular updates to the 

team on the progress of the student and family and 

explore responses to the youth’s gang involvement. 

Appropriate responses may include employment, 

school-based interventions, outreach to the student 

and his peers/family members, family interventions, 

and interventions that target key mental health and 

substance-abuse issues.
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These multidisciplinary teams are also well-equipped 

to provide a crisis response. First, the team can 

preplan for possible school scenarios involving gangs. 

From that discussion, a plan for information-sharing 

between key agencies and team members should be 

implemented. Some examples of questions that need to 

be addressed by the team include: When should police 

officers be called to the school campus? What types of 

information on incidents that occur in the community 

will be shared with school administrators, and how? 

When should team members be called to the school to 

support intervention activities?

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model 

provides a template for implementing a multidisciplinary 

team to intervene with gang-involved youth. A guide 

to implementing this model can be found online at 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/

Documents/Implementation-Manual/ImplementationManual.pdf. A concise description of the team approach 

is found in “Multidisciplinary Gang intervention 

Teams,” http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/

Documents/NYGCbulletin3.pdf.

Policies and Procedures to 

Prevent Gang Incidents

Set clear rules for all students, and require all 

staff to constantly enforce them

Every school should set firm, clear policies regarding 

gang behavior. Schools should not allow gangs to 

identify themselves on the school campus or during 

school activities through gang-related clothing styles or 

gang paraphernalia. Ensure that students and parents 

know the rules up front and the consequences if rules 

are broken. Schools should consider a dress code that 

prohibits gang-related clothing, such as extremely 

oversized clothing, references to specific gangs or 

gang affiliations, gang colors, customized sports 

paraphernalia, or other specific items that may signify 

gang affiliation in the local community. To reinforce 

these standards, remind parents on a quarterly basis 

about the dress code. Schools can also work with local 

law enforcement agencies to stay current on local trends 

and to identify items that should not be allowed. 

Gangs also should not be allowed to stake a visual 

foothold in the school by using gang-related graffiti to 

mark territory. Gang-related graffiti may lead to conflicts 

between students. At a minimum, such graffiti makes 

a visible statement to students that gangs are present 

in the school, which can be very intimidating. Graffiti 

should be photographed, documented, and removed 

immediately. It may be found in obvious places, such 

as bathrooms, classrooms, and hallways, but it also may 

be found on desks, inside lockers, on school books, and 

in more hidden areas. It may be used to claim territory 

within the school, as it is on the streets; to intimidate 

rivals within the school setting; or simply to advertise 

the presence of the gang.

School policies should not overreact to gangs, but they 

also should not underreact or ignore existing problems. 

The goal of these policies should be to make it clear to 

students that gang behavior in any form will not be 

tolerated at school to ensure the safety of all students 

during the school day. 

Appendix 1 (on page 11) provides a discussion of 

common gang identifiers found at school.

Train staff members to recognize and deal 

appropriately with gang issues

School staff members should receive regular training 

on current gang trends and identifiers in the local 

community, including the signs and symbols of local 

gang activity, along with rivalries between local gangs 

and current criminal activities.

Further, school staff at all levels need training on positive 

discipline strategies that can be used to address 

negative behaviors effectively. These strategies will be 

discussed in more detail later in this article.

Ongoing documentation of gangs present in 

the school and their activities

School personnel may believe they are legally forbidden 

to collect information of this nature and/or share it with 

law enforcement personnel. School resource officers or 

school police departments can assist the school with this 

function. Helpful information includes documentation of 

gang graffiti written in and around the school grounds 

and its meaning, information on typical identifiers 

used in the school setting by local gangs, information 

on gang-related tattoos, and members and/or rivals of 

groups functioning in and around the school. In the 

event of a gang conflict, prior knowledge of the existence 

and membership of these groups can allow a much more 

targeted and effective response, such as mediating 

conflicts before they get out of control and separating 

students with ongoing conflicts from one another.

Reach out to assist parents and make them 

partners in their children’s education

Schools should share information with parents 

immediately about any negative behavior that might 

indicate a student’s gang involvement. The school 

should hold regular meetings with parents and inform 

them about gang, drug, and violence issues in the 

community. Teachers should be given information on 

community support and educational programs so that 

it is readily available for parents who may be struggling 

with their children.

Help increase student success and feelings 

of attachment to the school

Student success and bonding to the school occur in two 

ways. First, schools should address learning deficits at 

the earliest possible point to keep students on-target with 

academic performance. Early school failure is a noted 

risk factor for gang involvement, and opens the doors 

to many other anti-social behaviors, as well. This may 
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require providing readily accessible remedial assistance 

for students who have fallen behind their peers.

Secondly, students need positive relationships with 

adults in the school setting. Students who feel they 

belong and are valued at school are far less likely to 

be involved in negative behaviors such as gangs and 

drug use. These connections should occur not only 

in the classroom and during extracurricular activities, 

but also during interactions with other types of school 

personnel. All school employees can and should 

be encouraged to make connections with students: 

bus drivers, counselors, teacher assistants, cafeteria 

workers, school resource officers, and even clerical staff 

can play meaningful roles in the lives of young people. 

A safe and welcoming school can be created when 

all school personnel strive to make every student feel 

needed and wanted. 

Schools can also consider increased recruitment and 

expanded programs to provide more students with 

opportunities to participate in activities. The school 

should work actively to get student input on potential 

barriers to their participation in school activities and 

desired activities, and activities should not focus solely 

on sports. 

The school also can allow groups that provide positive 

alternatives to gangs to advertise on school grounds. 

These groups might include the Boys & Girls Clubs, 

Big Brothers Big Sisters, local community centers, 

county or city recreation programs, and so forth. 

The school should invest in targeted programs that 

give students a helping hand in achieving academic 

success. Early school failure is a factor that contributes 

to joining gangs. Programs that help students attain 

grade-level academic skills and thus, feelings of personal 

competency, can decrease the attraction of gangs. 

Ask staff members to remain accessible to 

students during school hours

Relationships with school staff—especially teachers, 

coaches, and counselors—are an important resource 

for students who may lack other positive role models 

and adult support. 

Provide effective strategies to solve problems 

and resolve disputes

Schools may consider offering students classes on anger 

management, conflict resolution, and peer mediation 

to help them learn to independently solve problems. 

School staff also should receive this sort of training so 

that they can model positive conflict-resolution skills 

for students. Schools should address issues such as 

roughhousing in their codes of conduct because this 

behavior can easily escalate into more serious conflicts. 

One means of preventing gang problems is to focus on 

solving little problems before they grow into big ones.

School staff members should be strong 

and visible

Staff members are on the front line of a school’s defense 

against gang involvement. On many school campuses, 

only a few teachers are willing to take a stand against 

gang activity and work towards providing an adequate 

response. Students must see every member of the 

school staff working together and being consistent in 

dealing with gangs. Staff members should not belittle 

each other in front of students, should publicly support 

each other’s decisions, and should meet privately to 

discuss problems or conflicts. They also should enforce 

school policies together. School staff members need 

to be present and visible where students are located, 

including in hallways during class changes, in the 

lunchroom, in bathrooms, and at school activities.

Zero-Tolerance Gang Policies

Since the mid-1990s, an increasing number of states and 

local school districts have implemented rules and laws 

with zero-tolerance consequences for certain violations 

of school rules. These policies have had mixed success 

at accomplishing their mission, which is to increase 

school safety. It is clear that some actions by students 

cannot be tolerated within the school setting, and 

students cannot be allowed to victimize other students. 

However, in some cases, zero-tolerance policies may 

go too far, penalizing students for relatively minor 

infractions and thus barring them from the opportunity 

to gain an education.

For instance, although gang clothing and identifiers 

should not be tolerated in the school setting, there 

is a wide variety of responses to these items besides 

suspension and/or expulsion. Some schools maintain a 

small clothes closet to allow students to change clothes 

if they wear prohibited items to school. Other schools 

may schedule meetings with parents to point out the 

offending items and ask parents/students to sign a 

behavioral contract agreeing that the items will not be 

worn at school. Others may simply contact parents and 

send students home to change clothes.

According to a research brief prepared by the Education 

Resources Information Center (ERIC) on Educational 

Management (McAndrews/Tobin, 2001), elements of an 

effective zero-tolerance policy include the following:

•	Specifying clear consequences for misbehavior,

with consistency of application.

•	Allowing flexibility and considering expulsion

alternatives.

•	Clearly defining what constitutes a weapon, a

drug, or an act of misbehavior.

•	Complying with state due-process laws and

allowing for student hearings.

•	Developing the policy collaboratively with all

stake-holding agencies (e.g., state departments 
8

of education, juvenile justice, and health and 

human services).

•	Learning from the experiences educators have

had with zero-tolerance policies in other states, 

schools, and districts.

•	Integrating comprehensive health-education

programs that include drug and alcohol 

curricula.

•	Tailoring the policy to local needs.

•	Reviewing the policy each year.

Safety Warnings for School Staff

Although the school itself may seem like a controlled 

setting, school staff members need to understand 

that certain actions on their part should be avoided. 

Violence has a clearly understood role in street gang 

culture, and adults can become targets of violence 

by failing to understand the potential ramifications of 

interactions with gang members.

For their own safety, school staff members should not:

•	Make fun of or “disrespect” any particular 

gang or group. Never refer to a gang member 

as a “wannabe,” since this can be seen as 

provocation to commit an act of violence.

•	Demean or insult gang members. Make it 

a policy to treat everyone with courtesy and 

respect.

•	Call out or humiliate a gang member in front 

of his peers. If inappropriate behavior must be 

addressed, do it privately, one-on-one. 

•	Set up opportunities for rival gangs to commit 

acts of violence. For example, if members of 

rival gangs are caught fighting, they should be 

isolated rather than placed in the same room to 

await possible sanctions. The school grounds, 

cafeteria, administrative offices, hallways, 

classrooms, school events, and even bathrooms 

are all places where rival gang members may 

intersect. Plan ahead to prevent violence. These 

areas should be supervised by staff members to 

ensure that students are not victimized.

•	Favor one group over another group. Enforce 

all policies equally for all groups. For instance, 

if the school color is red, and gangs in the area 

use red as an identifier, the wearing of red 

clothing must be addressed in a way that honors 

school traditions without allowing some gang 

members to flagrantly disregard school rules. 

•	Let issues slide. Rules must be enforced fairly 

and consistently with all students, or adults will 

appear weak and ineffectual. Gang members 

often get the impression that adults lack the 

capacity to protect them or address incidents 

of bullying or victimization. When this occurs, 

they may take matters into their own hands or 

engage in acts of retaliation.

•	Imitate gang slang, clothing, hand signs, 

or symbols. Imitation may be perceived as 

disrespectful by gang members. It also demeans 

the adult and removes him or her from a position 

of neutrality. Rather than establishing common 

ground through imitation, set an example with 

professional attire, and establish relationships 

through consistency and caring.

•	Focus solely on negative behaviors. Provide 

gang members with opportunities to gain 

recognition for positive behaviors.

Warning Signs of Impending Gang Violence

Whenever gang members interact, whether at school 

or in other settings, there is always the possibility of 

violent conflict. Hence, adults need to be aware of youth 

behavior and affiliations. Gang members often follow 

unspoken rules that govern appropriate responses 

to disrespect, whether intentional or unintentional. 

Disrespectful actions might include confrontational 

glances, verbal exchanges, or nonverbal gestures. If a 

gang member feels disrespected, violence is a common 

response. 

School staff members must be alerted to the following 

behaviors that may predict impending violence:

•	Mad-dogging or “hard looks”—Gang members 

may exchange threatening glances with other 

youth or roll their eyes disrespectfully, hoping 

to provoke a confrontation.

•	Gang hand signs—Gang members may sign 

their gang affiliation, hoping to provoke a 

response from rivals. Hand signs usually 

consist of alphabet letters, numbers, or symbols 

made with the hands. Hand signs should not 

be tolerated.

•	Verbal challenges—Gang members may call 

out the name of their gang or make disrespectful 

and insulting remarks about rival gangs. Adults 

should discourage this behavior.

•	Groups squaring off—Gang members may be 

preparing to fight.

•	Showing gang colors—Gang members may 

carry concealed items in gang colors (such 

as bandanas) and flash these items to show 

disrespect for rival gangs.

•	Show-bys—Gang members may drive by a 

building, showing off weapons, or they may 

display their weapons to other youths in 

advance of a shooting.

•	Reports of concern—Youth may express 

concern that potential conflicts between gangs 

are impending. Any reports of concern by youth 

should always be investigated.
9

If these behaviors occur, school staff should be trained 

to respond calmly and appropriately, firmly stopping 

negative behaviors and notifying law enforcement 

when necessary.

Action Steps to Prevent a Gang 

Crisis at School

Around the United States, violent gang incidents have 

occurred on or around school campuses or at school 

events. In communities with entrenched gang problems, 

gang members may view the school campus as a viable 

place to locate and attack a rival gang member during 

instances of gang conflicts in the community. For this 

reason, schools need to have an action plan to follow 

to help prevent a violent incident involving gangs 

(or others) in the school. 

Confidential reporting for students

Provide a confidential method whereby students can 

report rumors of potential violence and/or weapons. 

This might include a toll-free hotline to the district office, 

a confidential suggestion box on the school campus 

that is checked every hour, and/or training for students 

on how and when to make a report of concern. Every 

report should be followed up in a way that protects the 

identity of the reporter. Emphasize that telling is not 

snitching when encouraging students to report possible 

dangers at school.

Reports of weapons

Staff members should immediately report to 

administrators any rumors of students carrying 

weapons on the school campus or of a potential violent 

incident; every rumor must be followed up. Contact 

law enforcement immediately if a weapon is reported 

on campus. School staff members should not attempt 

to disarm a student or other person without law 

enforcement assistance, if at all possible. Most school 

staff members lack the training and skills to successfully 

disarm an armed individual, and may cause harm to 

themselves or others. Do not assume that a positive 

relationship with a student guarantees a staff member’s 

protection. 

Controlling entrances and exits

If the school design allows, school personnel should 

be stationed at entrances to greet persons entering 

the school building. The person at the entry should 

ensure that visitors have a valid reason for entering the 

school. Also, the person at the entry point should be 

equipped with a means to communicate with the school 

office (radio, cell phone, etc.). There is no reason for 

strangers to be walking through a school unsupervised 

and unchallenged.

Training and code signal

Schools routinely drill for fires and other emergencies. 

Drilling for a crisis involving an armed intruder or an 

act of gang-related violence within the school setting 

requires a different sort of practice. Many schools 

have implemented a code word for the staff that can be 

broadcast over the intercom to signal a crisis without 

alarming the students. For this sort of crisis, staff 

members should clear the hallways and move students 

into classrooms, locking the doors, as soon as possible. 

Like fire drills, these crisis drills should be practiced at 

regular intervals.

Responding to Worst-Case 

Scenarios

Armed intruder or other serious crisis

Contact local law enforcement immediately. The person 

making contact should stay on the phone with the police 

dispatcher until officers arrive. This person should be 

prepared to provide the dispatcher with a physical 

description of the intruder, his or her probable location, 

and the direction in which he/she was last seen moving. 

Other information the officers may need can be provided 

through the connection with the dispatcher.

Violent incident involving rival gangs spills 

into the school

Prior documentation of and knowledge about gangs 

and gang members present in the school can allow the 

school to preemptively respond at the beginning of the 

school day to gang-related tensions in the aftermath of 

a violent gang-related incident. Gang members from 

the groups involved should be segregated and provided 

with counseling and/or mediation, and ground rules 

can be established to ensure the safety of all students. 

The situation should be closely monitored by law 

enforcement and/or school personnel to address any 

issues that arise.

Aftermath of a Crisis in the School 

or Community 

Schools need to form partnerships with appropriate 

community agencies/mental health providers and 

law enforcement agencies. These partnerships 

enable schools to be aware of violent incidents in the 

community that might spill over into a school or cause 

residual trauma and fear for students. When a serious 

incident has occurred in the community, partners can be 

convened to formulate an action plan to address student 

needs and to circumvent retaliation. Issues to address 

might include grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, and 

conflict resolution/mediation between groups involved 

in the incident. n

Michelle Arciaga is a senior research associate with 

the National Gang Center operated by the Institute 

for Intergovernmental Research® (IIR) in Tallahassee, 

Florida. Wayne Sakamoto is the Director of School Safety 

for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District in Murrieta, 

California. Errika Fearbry Jones is the Coordinator of the 

Teaching and Learning Environment for the School District 

of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
10

References

Arciaga, Michelle, “Multidisciplinary Gang 

Intervention Teams,” National Youth Gang 

Center Bulletin No. 3, August 2007, National 

Youth Gang Center, Tallahassee, Florida, 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/

Documents/NYGCbulletin3.pdf.

Gottfredson, Gary, and Gottfredson, Denise C., 

Gang Problems and Gang Programs in a National 

Sample of Schools, October 2001, Gottfredson & 

Associates, Marriottville, Maryland, 

http://www.gottfredson.com/gang.htm.

McAndrews, Tobin, “Zero-Tolerance Policies,” 

ERIC Digest No. 146, March 2001, 

Education Resource and Information Center, 

University of Oregon, Portland, 

http://eric.uoregon.edu/publications/digests/

digest146.html.

National Youth Gang Center, A Guide to Assessing 

Your Community’s Gang Problem, 2009. 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention, Office Of Justice Programs, 

U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/

Comprehensive-Gang-Model/Assessment-Guide.

National Gang Center, Strategic Planning Tool, 

May 2010, Office of Juvenile Justice and 

Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice 

Programs, Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/SPT.

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice 

Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National 

Crime Victimization Survey: School Crime 

Supplement, 2007. Ann Arbor, Michigan: 

Inter-university Consortium for Political and 

Social Research.

Additional Resources

Arciaga, Michelle, “The ABC’s of School Safety: 

Keeping Schools Free of Weapons, Gangs and 

Drugs,” 1999 Utah Gang Update, March 2009. 

Salt Lake Area Gang Project, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

—–––––, “Talking to Kids About Gangs,” 1998 Utah 

Gang Update, March 2008. Salt Lake Area Gang 

Project, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Burnett, Gary, and Walz, Garry, “Gangs in the 

School,” ERIC Digest No. 146, July 1994, 

Education Resource and Information Center, 

University of Oregon, Portland, http://www.

ericdigests.org/1995-1/gangs.htm.

Dinkes, R., Kemp, J., and Baum, K. (2009) Indicators of 

School Crime and Safety: 2008 (NCES 2009—022/

NCJ 226343) National Center for Educational 

Statistics, Institute of Educational Sciences, 

U.S. Department of Education, and Bureau of 

Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, 

U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC, 

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/

crimeindicators2008/.

Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of 

Education. Balancing Student Privacy and School 

Safety: A Guide to the Family Educational Rights 

and Privacy Act for Elementary and Secondary 

Schools, 2010. U.S. Department of Education, 

Washington, DC, http://www2.ed.gov/policy/

gen/guid/fpco/brochures/elsec.pdf.

Howell, James C., and Lynch, James P., “Youth Gangs 

in Schools,” OJJDP Juvenile Justice Bulletin, 

August 2000, http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/

ojjdp/183015.pdf.

National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse 

at Columbia University, National Survey of 

American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XV: 

Teens and Parents, 2010. National Center on 

Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia 

University, New York, NewYork, 

http://www.casacolumbia.org/upload/2010/

20100819teensurvey.pdf.

Valdez, Al, “Gangs: A Guide to Understanding Street 

Gangs,” 2000, Lawtech Publishing Company, 

Ltd., San Clemente, California, http://www.

lawtechpublishing.com/.
11

Appendix 1

Gang Identifiers in School

Gang behaviors may vary significantly from one region of 

the country to another, or even within the same county 

or area of a single community. It is impossible for a 

single article to detail every combination of symbols and 

identifiers found in a specific area, so it is best for schools 

to work with their local law enforcement agencies to 

share information if at all possible. This section provides 

a brief overview of common gang identifiers.

Clothing, hand signs, colors—do they 

still matter?

At one time, it was relatively easy to identify gang 

members by their clothing, hand signs, graffiti, and 

tattoos, as well as by their attitude of flaunting their 

gang membership. Today, in many parts of the United 

States, gang members may be less likely to flaunt their 

membership in a gang with colors, gang attire, and 

hand signs. With increased sentencing penalties and 

increased police attention, many gang members now 

hide the symbols of their gang affiliation. However, 

these signs and symbols still exist, and school personnel 

in gang-affected areas should learn as much as possible 

about the identifiers for active gangs in their areas.

External identifiers such as clothing and symbols should 

never be the sole focus in gang identification. Instead, 

the behavior of groups and individuals, especially 

criminal involvement, in context with appearance, is the 

primary standard to determine gang affiliation.

Street gangs use various forms of communication. These 

may include a particular style of dress, hand signs, 

specific symbols and/or colors, and graffiti incorporating 

the symbols and colors associated with a particular 

gang set. Gang members use these identifiers to 

communicate their gang affiliation, to create respect 

(fear) among community members, and to challenge 

rival gang members. School staff should be regularly 

trained, and work closely with law enforcement 

personnel, to document, track, and intervene when they 

observe gang communication.

Gang Attire

The evolution of traditional street gang attire can be 

traced through the decades, especially in the Hispanic 

culture, back to the days of the pachucos (MexicanAmerican youth) on the West Coast in the 1940s and early 

1950s. The pachuco look—khaki pants, white T-shirt, 

and plaid shirt—came about through economic necessity. 

This look remains common with many gangs around the 

United States. However, over the last 60 years, gangs in 

different regions of the United States have put their own 

spin on these traditional gang identifiers, incorporating 

sports clothing, jewelry, and specific brands of clothing 

as the badge of their gang affiliation.

Gang members may wear athletic shoes in specific 

brands and styles; athletic jogging or warm-up suits; 

professional baseball, football, and basketball athletic 

jerseys; blue jeans; and hip-hop attire. If they wear 

sports clothing, they often modify or alter these items 

to reflect their gang affiliation. Although this clothing 

has no meaning to the average citizen, gang members 

select clothing items that have some significance to 

their particular gang. This symbolism is shown in the 

color of the item, names or initials on the clothing, an 

insignia or logo, and numbers on the clothing. 

Gang members wear gang colors and symbols on many 

items: shirts, bandanas, jewelry, sports clothing (check 

for alterations), hats (including altering or writing 

graffiti on the insides of hats), hairbands, shoelaces, 

belts, belt buckles, and specific shoe brands whose 

names or logos have a specific meaning to the gang. 

Shirts and other items with Old English-style or 

airbrushed lettering may spell out gang names, 

symbols, acronyms, individual monikers/nicknames, 

and numbers. Another common customized design is 

a reference to gang members who have “fallen in the 

line of battle.” The members of the gang may wear 

such shirts to funerals and in the community or school, 

paying homage to these fallen peers with slogans such 

as por vida (“for life”) or RIP (“rest in peace”).

Much of the gang-style clothing seen today is current 

fashion rather than an admission of gang membership. 

However, careful attention should be paid to modified 

or customized clothing, which may contain specific 

references to an individual’s gang affiliation. 

School staff members must provide warnings to young 

people and their parents about the dangers of wearing 

gang-style clothing. The main reason that students 

should not wear gang clothing is for their own safety. In 

gang-prone areas, if gang members see a young person 

wearing colors, numbers, brands, or symbols closely 

associated with rival gangs, they may shoot first and 

ask questions later.

Hand Signs

Gang members use hand signs to:

•	Show affiliation to their set.

•	Show disrespect to rivals.

•	Challenge rivals.

•	Provoke confrontations.

To a gang member, a hand sign is a nonverbal form of 

communication that can lead to violence. 

Many gangs have their own hand signs. To throw a 

hand sign at a rival gang member is considered an 

insult or a challenge, called “set tripping.” Set tripping 

is often the catalyst for gang-related violence. 
12

There is no good reason for gang members to use hand 

signs at school. School staff should learn to recognize 

this behavior, and it should be strictly prohibited on the 

school campus and at school events. 

Gang Graffiti

Gang graffiti gives insights into gang rivalries, 

affiliation, and territory in a given community and can 

often be found at school. Gang graffiti may include the 

following elements:

•	The name and/or initials of the gang and, if

relevant, its overall affiliation (Crips/Bloods/

Sureños/Folks, etc.).

•	Threats or challenges to rivals. These may

include abbreviations such as BK for Blood 

Killer, CK for Crip Killer, or rival gang names 

including Killer or Killa. The number 187, 

common in gang graffiti around the 

United States, represents the California Penal 

Code for homicide. Rival gangs also may be 

threatened or “disrespected” by crossing their 

names out with an X or a line, or by writing 

insults or slurs next to their names.

•	Hints about the history of the gang, such as

telephone area codes, territorial markers, and 

street names from the gang’s originating area.

•	A placa (roll call or list of the gang members’

nicknames). Gang members often refer to 

one another by their nicknames and may not 

know the first and/or last names of fellow gang 

members. These nicknames often describe 

something about the gang members, such as 

physical appearance or personality. Names 

with the number 2 or higher behind them 

indicate there is more than one person in the 

gang with that nickname. When reading the 

graffiti, one can often easily determine that 

the scribe is either the first or the last moniker 

listed. As a matter of respect, a scribe may list 

monikers of his close associates first and his 

own last. However, if the same graffiti is done 

in a rival gang’s turf, the scribe is likely to list 

his moniker first to let the rival gang know that 

it was he who initiated the insult and marked 

his territory. 

•	Statements bragging about the gang’s

reputation. These include words such as loc/

loco (“crazy”) and rifamos (“the best”). 

For schools, the best policy is to plan for and remove 

graffiti as soon as possible to maintain a clean and 

orderly school environment. The longer graffiti is left 

visible in the school setting, the less safe students will 

feel, and the more likely a confrontation between rival 

gangs becomes.
13

Appendix 2

Do’s and Don’ts for School Personnel

DO DON’T

Do treat gang-involved students with the same respect 

and value shown to other students.

Do not humiliate or embarrass gang-involved students 

(especially in front of peers).

Do have high expectations for academic achievement. Do not publicly praise a gang member for academic 

achievement before checking with the student.

Do expect gang-involved students to submit 

assignments.

Do not allow students to write gang symbols or to turn 

in assignments with gang-style writing.

Do provide more cooperative and hands-on learning 

experiences.

Do not allow gang members from the same set to work 

together.

Do actively involve gang members in the learning 

process.

Do not allow gang-involved students to “disappear” in 

the classroom.

Do talk to students individually about gang involvement. Do not allow your classroom to be used as a gang forum.

Do enlist gang-involved students to work with other 

students on school projects and other extracurricular 

activities.

Do not allow students to form cliques and exclude other 

groups.

Do set definite rules and consequences. Suspend, file 

charges, etc., if warranted. Gang members respect and 

expect discipline and structure.

Do not change your mind about enforcing rules. Gang 

members view inconsistency as a weakness and will 

exploit it.

Do enforce all rules with respect. Do not challenge or try to intimidate gang-involved 

youth, especially in front of their peers.

Do provide consistent consequences for ALL students. Do not make exceptions for favorite students.

Do stay current on words or activities that are gangrelated: dress, rap music, hair nets, etc.Do not allow students to use words or activities that are 

gang-related.

Do know students by street names or nicknames. Do not allow students to refer to each other by gang 

monikers.

Do give gang members responsibility that enhances 

their positive self-esteem: tutors, helpers, etc.

Do not trust gang members completely. Be a guide and 

a mentor, not a peer.

Do show concern and empathy for gang-involved youth. Do not become an enabler by providing excuses for 

students’ negative behaviors.

Do keep communication with gang-involved youth 

informal, open, and honest. Do not become a home boy/girl to gang members.
14

Appendix 3

Family Educational Rights and 

Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 

(20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a federal law that 

protects the privacy of student education records. The 

law applies to all schools that receive funds under 

an applicable program of the U.S. Department of 

Education.

FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their 

children’s education records. These rights transfer to a 

student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends 

a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom 

the rights have transferred are “eligible students.”

•	Parents or eligible students have the right

to inspect and review a student’s education 

records maintained by the school. Schools 

are not required to provide copies of records 

unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is 

impossible for parents or eligible students to 

review the records. Schools may charge a fee 

for copies.

•	Parents or eligible students have the right to

request that a school correct records that they 

believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the 

school decides not to amend the record, the 

parent or eligible student then has the right to a 

formal hearing. If, after the hearing, the school 

again decides not to amend the record, the 

parent or eligible student has the right to place 

a statement with the record setting forth his or 

her view about the contested information.

•	Generally, schools must have writtenpermission

from a parent or eligible student to release any 

information from a student’s education record. 

However, FERPA allows schools to disclose 

those records, without consent, to the following 

parties or under the following conditions (34 

CFR § 99.31):

o School officials with legitimate educational 

interest;

o Other schools to which a student is 

transferring;

o Specified officials for audit or evaluation 

purposes;

o Appropriate parties in connection with 

financial aid to a student;

o Organizations conducting certain studies 

for or on behalf of the school;

o Accrediting organizations;

o To comply with a judicial order or lawfully 

issued subpoena; 

o Appropriate officials in cases of health and 

safety emergencies; and

o Local and state authorities, within a 

juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific 

state law.

Schools may disclose, without consent, “directory” 

information, such as a student’s name, address, 

telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and 

awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools 

must tell parents and eligible students about directory 

information and allow parents and eligible students a 

reasonable amount of time to request that a school not 

disclose directory information about them. Schools must 

notify parents and eligible students annually of their 

rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification 

(special letter, inclusion in a Parent Teacher Association 

[PTA] bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) 

is left to the discretion of each school.

For additional information or technical assistance, 

you may call (202) 260-3887 (voice). Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 

may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 

(800)-877-8339. 

Or you may contact us at the following address: 

Family Policy Compliance Office

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202-5920

Further information on the Family Educational Rights 

and Privacy Act (FERPA) can be found online at 

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/brochures/

elsec.pdf and http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/

fpco/index.html.
15

This project was supported by Grant No. 2007-MU-BX-K003, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, 

and Grant No. 2007-JV-FX-0008, awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 

Office of Justice Programs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this 

document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The National Gang Center (NGC) is a collaborative effort between 

the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) 

and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

This partnership works to provide professionals in the field of gangs 

with tools that can be used in a comprehensive range of strategies to 

respond to street gangs, from prevention and intervention to criminal 

justice strategies such as suppression, prosecution, and re-entry.

Michelle Arciaga is a senior research associate with the National Gang 

Center operated by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research® (IIR) 

in Tallahassee, Florida.

Wayne Sakamoto is the Director of School Safety for the Murrieta 

Valley Unified School District in Murrieta, California.

Errika Fearbry Jones is the Coordinator of the Teaching and Learning 

Environment for the School District of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania.

©2010 by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research® (IIR) on behalf of the National Gang Center. All Rights Reserved.