Russian horror highlights U.S. school security.

In the wake of the deadly hostage taking in Beslan, Russia, many U.S. officials are reexamining school security precautions and providing direction to worried school officials and parents.

The Education Department has issued the newest version of its "Practical Guide on Crisis Planning." In it, officials suggest crafting detailed crisis response plans to account for students, assign staff, collect information about facilities and purchase equipment needed to mitigate or respond to a dangerous incident.

A similar guide published by the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 issued recommendations for schools and universities specifically in response to terrorism threats. Among the suggestions were establishing working relationships with first responders and police, as well as the supervisory agent in charge of FBI field offices and the regional Joint Terrorism Task Force.

DHS Secretary Tom Ridge, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., said that the FBI would be the lead responder if a hostage situation similar to Beslan--which ended in bomb blasts, a shootout and the death of 334 people, mostly children--occurred in the United States.

"The FBI, clearly in terms of the number of people that have been trained and deployed to deal with those situations, is best equipped to do it, but I daresay it would be a collaborative effort ... I suspect the FBI would take the lead, but not to the exclusion of some extraordinary partners we have within the taw enforcement community around the country."

Ridge added that, despite the existence of emergency response telephone numbers that are provided by state homeland security offices, the best point of contact to report an incident is the local police.

"I think that we don't need a centralized number. The best thing to do is pick up the men and women who on a day-to-day basis protect your community," Ridge said.

He added that in many ways the U.S. school system has been prepared for crisis because of a well-published rash of violent incidents before September 11, 2001.

"Unfortunately, we've had to concern ourselves as parents about our children in their schools long before 9/11, in the aftermath of not only Columbine, but a series of shootings around the country," he said. Schools, both public and private, have adapted much more stringent security measures including metal dectors in many schools, Ridge said.