Since its inception in 1990, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the “Clery Act,” has held institutions of higher education accountable by requiring campuses to accurately document incidents on campuses and provide this information to students, employees, and prospective students. This federal regulation allows individuals to have a realistic understanding of criminal activity on college and university campuses and provides educational information to campus communities. The topic of school safety is at the forefront of many student, parent, and faculty concerns at K-12 institutions in the United States and there is currently no uniform tool for accurately measuring crime on these campuses. Given the immense worry leading to an increase in security measures on campuses, one would think it prudent to have reliable data that supports the implementation of these measures—some of which are costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Scholars have agreed for many years that there is a need for uniform data collection in this area that accurately reflects the conditions schools and students are facing. This data would better help experts to address local, regional, and national problems. Some scholars do go as far to suggest that the Clery Act should be expanded to K-12 schools in an effort to combat gaps in Title IX. However, current scholarship on the topic does not address the feasibility of this expansion, nor have there been any specific proposals. This means that the collection of quantitative data remains elusive, and children may not be well-versed on policies meant to protect them.

This Article suggests that the current framework of the Clery Act should be extended to K-12 institutions via an amendment in the reauthorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. This would allow school districts to maintain established relationships with local law enforcement while allowing any decision districts make regarding safety measures to be supported by accurate and sufficient data. This may be an imperfect solution long term, but it would be a good start given the heightened concerns regarding school safety. The extension of the Clery Act will allow communities to work through their concerns more thoroughly and toward a safer school environment, while protecting students who currently face disproportionate impacts and consequences of current safety measures.