Sessions

After the Trigger Pull: A Law Enforcement Perspective
Location: Room B15C
Featuring: Katherine Schweit (Policy and Security Consultant)

Attendees will discuss a short case study of a recent campus shooting to better understand what to expect in the first minutes and hours after a shooting or other law-enforcement engaged disaster. This session will address law enforcement priorities, the necessary staging areas you can help identify, and your role in other recovery matters.

A Positive Youth Development Approach to School Safety
Location: Ballroom (8/8), Room B15A (8/9)
Featuring: Dr. Sarah Stilwell (National Center for School Safety) 

In this collaborative session, participants will explore comprehensive school safety, learn about one approach to positive youth development, and engage with examples scenarios to see how various strategies fit together to empower youth and keep them safe.

BJA STOP School Violence Specialized TTA for Law Enforcement Program
Location: Room B15A
Featuring: Rhonda Shaw, EdD (STOP School Violence Law Enforcement Center, Institute for Intergovernmental Research)

The Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) will offer an overview of the Bureau of Justice Assistance Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Specialized Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program for law enforcement who work in K–12 schools and/or with school-aged populations. This federally funded program is designed to support the development and implementation of specialized training and other resources for law enforcement, school security, and community supervision professionals who work with students. This session will provide an overview and delve into three established programs—Diversion, Threat Assessments, and Mentoring—aimed at realizing these goals.

Conducting K-12 Site Assessments to Enhance Your Emergency Operations Plan
Location: Room B15A
Featuring: Steve Harris (University of Georgia and US Dept of Education Readiness in Emergency Management and Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center)

This session will provide participants with an introduction to site assessments, including their purpose; how site assessments support school preparedness activities; how data from site assessments are incorporated into the planning process put forth in the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans; and key topics such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. This training also provides an overview of SITE ASSESS, some of its key features, and how to use it collaboratively.

COPS Office STOP Act Funding and School Safety Resources
Location: Room B15C (8/8), Room B15B (8/9)
Featuring: Elizabeth Simpson, Lynette Chambliss (COPS Office)

The COPS Office is a US Department of Justice Agency that supports K-12 school safety initiatives through grant funding, training, and technical assistance. Attendees of this presentation will learn about the COPS Office school-based funding opportunities, which include STOP Act funding and SRO funding.  Attendees will learn how to access no-cost publications, resources, and training to assist and support evidence-based school safety measures. Finally, attendees will have the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session to discuss their community needs and the challenges of K-12 school safety.

Evaluation for Impact
Location: Room B15A (8/8), Room B15B (8/9)
Featuring: Dr. Justin Heinze (National Center for School Safety)

This session will explore what evaluating for impact means, how it can help you with your current program, and how to leverage data to prepare for funding opportunities.

Grantee Manager Help Desk
Location: Ballroom Foyer

The BJA Programs Team will host a Help Desk to answer quick JustGrants questions and provide insight into ongoing award modifications or other issues. Stop by and say hi!

Grantee Panel: Adapting to Your Context and Tailoring Programming to Student Needs
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: Max Schachter (Safe Schools for Alex) and Dr. Ann Marie Cotman (University of Florida), Dr. Kristine Jolivette (University of Alabama)

Panelists will will discuss school safety data and dashboards, leveraging data in decision-making, and data evaluation.

Grantee Panel: Behavioral Threat Assessment, Reporting, and Response
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: Elliot Cox (Idaho School Safety and Security), Sonja Azim (Broward County Public Schools, Florida), Sue Williams (Wisconsin DOJ), Shellie Evers (Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety), Frank Silveira and Tony Cavanaugh (Tulare County Office of Education)

Discussions will center around: threat assessment, multidisciplinary intervention teams, communicating with first responders, and student mental health.

Grantee Panel: Collaboration
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: Dr. Joseph Holifield (San Luis Obispo & Tulare County, California), Jeremy Hughes (Wayne County Action Program, New York), Jay Roscup (Sodus Central School District, New York), Kim Silmon (City of Bessemer, Alabama), Leslie Scranton (SERRC, Alaska), Joanna Najaran-Garb (Stratford Public Schools, Connecticut)

Panelists will share on collaboration with and roles of law enforcement, first responders, and mental health professionals.

Grantee Panel: Family Engagement and Support
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: Pam Hayes (Stand4Kind), Cortney King (United Way of Southwest Georgia), Laura Olson (St. Paul School District), Shannon Behrens (Spokane Public Schools) 

Panelists will share on engaging parents in school safety work and partnering with community organizations to support parents and students.cyberbullying, social media, meeting needs of students with disabilities, and more.

Grantee Panel: School Climate and Prosocial Behaviors
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: Sherri Cripe, Ed.S (Purdue MESA), Darlene Faster (Sandy Hook Promise), Lucretia Holmes (CSLC)

This panel will focus on school safety topics related to: bullying prevention, cyberbullying, social media, meeting needs of students with disabilities, and more.

How an Intersectional Approach to School Policy Can Foster Safety & Wellbeing for Black Girls and Gender-expansive Students
Location: Room B15C
Featuring: Dr. Sydney McKinney (National Black Women’s Justice Institute)

Join Dr. Sydney McKinney, executive director of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, in reimagining how schools create safe and nurturing environments that support the growth and development of all students, especially Black girls and gender-expansive youth. During this session, we will discuss barriers to safety for Black girls and gender-expansive youth in school, including gender-based violence, mental health, and bullying. Together, we will explore how an intersectional framework that centers Black girls and gender-expansive youth can help us develop inclusive and equitable school policies that are responsive to the needs, experiences, and expectations of our most vulnerable students.  

Integrating School Resource Officers into School Safety Planning
Location: Room B15B
Featuring: Dr. Chris Melde (School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University)

This session will discuss the state of the research literature on school resource officers (SROs), including discussion of the prospects and potential pitfalls of police officers in schools. Topics will include planning, setting expectations, understanding potential impacts of SROs on school climate, students and staff perceptions, student behavior, and disciplinary responses by schools.

Keynote Address: Integrating and Aligning School-Based Programming Related to Student Safety and Engagement
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: Dr. Catherine Bradshaw (University of Virginia)

Networking by Focus

• Behavioral Threat Assessment, Social Media Monitoring
  Location: Room B15A
• Building and Campus Security, School-based Law Enforcement, School Safety Drills
  Location: Room B15C
• Mental Health Services, School Climate Interventions, Student Involvement and Empowerment
  Location: Ballroom
• Reporting Systems, Coordination with First Responders
  Location: Room B15B

Networking by Organization Type
Location: Ballroom

• Schools and School Districts

• Tribal, State, County, Local Government, and Law Enforcement

• Community Members, Nonprofits, and Community Organizations

• Higher Education and Research Partners

Networking by Region

• East Region
  Location: Room B15B
  CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, PR, RI, VA, VT, WV
  
• Midwest Region
  Location: Room B15A
  AR, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, TN, WI
  
• South Region
  Location: Ballroom
  AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TX
  
• West Region
  Location: B15C
  AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OK, OR, UT, WA, WY
  

Plenary: Increasing Cultural Intelligence: Safer Schools, Managing Bias, and Building Relationships
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: Lt. Wayland Cubit (Oklahoma City Public Schools)

This session is designed to equip educators, administrators, school staff, and security personnel with the essential tools and strategies to enhance their cultural intelligence, enabling them to create a positive school climate and safe environment. Participants will leave inspired to create authentic positive relationships with diverse students, and understand how this impacts safety in their schools.

Reducing School Violence Through Community Partnerships: Safe Passages and Safer Streets Initiative
Location: Ballroom
Featuring: LeVar Michael (LISC Safety & Justice), Terrance Staley (Alliance of Concerned Men), Clayton Rosenberg (Alliance of Concerned Men), Paul Taylor (VA League for Safer Streets), Robert Morris (VA League for Safer Streets) (8/9)

Addressing community violence inside and outside of schools requires a unified approach, which leverages the experience and expertise of community partners as well as school staff and administrators. During this breakout session, participants will be exposed to two organizations partnering with schools to implement the safe passages model and the Richmond, VA, League for Safer Streets Initiative. Participants will also learn best practices associated with keeping these types of partnerships alive and thriving.

Revitalizing School Safety: Strategies to Reduce Alienation and Foster Connection
Location: Room B15B (8/8), Room B15A (8/9)
Featuring: Dr. Rebeccah Sokol (University of Michigan)

In this interactive workshop, participants will engage in discussions and activities to consider how their communities’ school safety strategies (e.g., school safety drills, mental health resources) support and/or isolate students. Participants first will learn about school alienation as a framework for understanding school safety, and then they will critically evaluate different school safety strategies’ potential to increase or decrease school alienation. We will end the session brainstorming approaches to school safety strategies that might reduce school alienation.

STOP School Violence: An NIJ and OJJDP Perspective on Addressing Youth Violence in Schools
Location: Room B15A
Featuring: Dr. Jennifer Grotpeter (NIJ), Scott Pestridge (OJJDP)

In this joint presentation, you will learn about evidence-based strategies to sustain youth violence prevention and intervention efforts. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention will discuss the efforts of sites funded to do school climate work in communities that both centers the voices of system-involved youth and families, and approaches the work through a racial equity and fairness lens. The National Institute of Justice will share highlights from its work to synthesize what has been learned about root causes and consequences of school violence, school policing programs, and school based threat assessments.

Schools, 988 and the Crisis Continuum
Location: Room B15B
Featuring: Matt St. Pierre (National Council for Mental Wellbeing)

The historic launch of 988 on July 16, 2022 has led to unprecedented funding and advancements in strengthening the crisis continuum in communities across America. This workshop will provide an overview of the new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and discuss how schools and their safety partners can access the crisis services continuum in their communities. The workshop will include opportunities to discover both national and local crisis resources as well as opportunities for collaboration with fellow attendees.

Tabletop Your Way to BTAM Fidelity
Location: Ballroom (AM), Room B15A (PM)
Featuring: Allison Schreiber, Ben Jennett (National Center for School Safety)

This session will help participants maintain fidelity in their behavioral threat assessment operationalization by developing tabletop exercises for BTAM teams to work through the process.

Tip Lines and Reporting Systems: Things to Know
Location: Room B15C
Featuring: Nancy Becker Bennett and Kim Root (Grants and Community Services Division, Michigan State Police)

This session will explore statewide implementation and management of a school safety tip line and help participants to understand what is involved.