Education

How Foxborough Public Schools Improved Safety Perceptions by 14 Points

Results at a Glance Between 2022-2023 and 2025-2026 parent/guardian perceptions of their school’s safety and security practices rose 14 percentage points from 70% → 84%  Secondary student favorable perceptions rose 12 percentage points from 68% → 80%  Rate of improvement: three to six times the national rate over the same period Achieved without expensive new security hardware. The change was in how the district used survey data to communicate, explain, and build trust around the practices it already had. Foxborough Public Schools did not add more cameras, or metal detectors. Its safety practices were already in place and had been for years. What changed was how the district used community feedback to communicate those practices, explain them to families, and build trust around them. Three years later, favorable perceptions of School Safety and Security among parents/guardians climbed 14 percentage points. Among secondary students, they climbed 12. Nationally, the same measures barely moved. This is a case study in what happens when a district treats feedback as a starting point for action, not a finish line for data collection. A Feedback-to-Action Moment When Foxborough reviewed its annual climate survey results, one pattern stood out. Many respondents were selecting “Don’t Know” on items regarding safety and security procedures and reporting protocols. That response told the district something specific: this was an awareness gap, not a satisfaction gap. The reporting tools existed, and the safety practices and protocols were in place, but the issue was that too few people knew about them. The district acted. They raised the visibility of the anonymous bullying report on the school website, localized and increased transparency in safety protocols, and developed strategic partnerships to create community and a culture of safety. These […]