Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley participates in a Dec. 7 webinar for the Parent Advisory Commission. (Photo by Charles Kinnin)
Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley during a webinar on Dec. 7 briefed the Parent Advisory Commission on how the CFSS supports everyone involved in schools – beginning with students and parents.
“We know that education is vital for our future, their future. You can’t learn if you don’t feel safe,” Fairley told members of the commission, which was created in June by State Superintendent Catherine Truitt.
Fairley, a mother and grandmother, stressed the role of parents, the “first foundation” for their children. She invites parents to interact with the CFSS and said she’ll speak to any parent group that invites her.
“We have to as a community address our particular area and decide what we’re not going to accept,” Fairley said. “It has to be a consensus.”
Round 2 of the School Safety Grant is open. There is some available funding that can be used for School Safety Equipment, Services for Students in Crisis and Training to Increase School Safety. The grant is now open in CCIP under FY 23, Safer Schools Round 2 Funding. This is not funding for additional School Resource Officers.
The grant application will close at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 20. Please make sure the grant is to the “Chief Administrator Approved” level no later than the closing.
Please email schoolsafetygrants@dpi.nc.gov with any questions.
The Center for Safer Schools is required under N.C. G.S § 115C-105.57 to conduct an annual census of school resource officers located in each of the state’s public school units.
This year, the General Assembly provided $33 million in grant funding for the hiring and training of SROs. In order for the CFSS to continue to advocate for SROs, we need to report findings based on their responses to the census.
Please complete the survey at the following link by 11:59 p.m. Jan. 5: Annual Census of School Resource Officers - 2022-2023 (qualtrics.com)
All SROs should complete the survey. If your school doesn’t have an SRO, there’s no need to complete the survey.
The Center for Safer Schools will offer free, virtual School Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Training during the first quarter of 2023. The sessions will be hosted by the CFSS in partnership with the BeTA Unit of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and will be conducted by SIGMA.
Behavioral threat assessment is a best practice for helping to identify potential active shooter incidents, stalking and other targeted violence in K-12 schools and school districts. An effective, functioning behavioral assessment team is a critical component of keeping schools safe and preventing violence. Behavioral threat assessment and management provides a proactive, evidence-based approach for identifying individuals who might pose a threat and for providing intervention before a violent incident occurs.
BTAM training provides fundamental information about school violence and how prevention is possible. The sessions cover how to build and operate a school threat assessment team at the school or district level.
BTAM training provides detailed instructions on specific procedures to use when addressing threatening behavior in school, including how to screen cases, gather information, analyze the information, make an assessment and implement an intervention plan when needed. The sessions include multiple group exercises in which participants can practice using these procedures.
For more information on School Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Training, contact SAC Brent Culbertson (bculbertson@ncsbi.gov, 828-782-0324).
Jan. 24: Grand opening of CFSS temporary training facility, Jackson Springs
Threat Assessment Training
(Registration is free)
Jan. 11: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_otRNgUGVQP2iD2WRPZJqkA
Jan. 18: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6U25Gr53SgaW2AYndCuibQ
Jan. 25: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C5qi59-2Qn-YA-FGUaJjBg
Feb. 15: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h3O3SEumS4ugooix6dlQBg
Feb. 22: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HcQj7gsETSuD0L6RKeYLKw
March 1: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G-bkgQAuS5mko8Pt2mcZoA
March 8: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__oFYGApVRpWcgYk39Bbhng
March 15: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iOPcyLMkQqamNu8DAZEUqQ
March 22: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XQec2Uy3TH2r4ZuLEbkecA
March 29: https://ontic-co.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gXX0Cil8SSW5yt5HMQUzjQ
The Center for Safer Schools welcomes newsletter submissions about school safety events from school districts and charter schools across North Carolina. Please email your information and photos to Charles.Kinnin@dpi.nc.gov.
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