- From the Executive Director
- Annual Census of School Resource Officers
- Family Fun Day
- Task Force Meeting
- Charter School Tour
- N.C. Youth Leadership Training
- Parent Tips
- Tips to Advocate for Your Child
- SRMP Training
- Great Southeast ShakeOut
- Exercise Information System Training
- Executive Director Tours
- Calendar of Events
- Follow Us
- Tell Us About It
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, when we at the Center for Safer Schools help promote nationwide efforts to end bullying.
Bullying is something that no child should ever experience. It disrupts the educational process and results in the victim viewing school as a negative experience. With the prevalence of social media, bullying unfortunately can follow a child home.
An effective way to promote a positive school climate is to eliminate bullying from a school. For information on how you can help end bullying, visit Pacer.org and StopBullying.gov.
Also, CFSS staff members will wear orange on Unity Day, which this year is Wednesday, Oct. 18. Unity Day promotes kindness, acceptance and inclusion. Orange is worn because it’s a warm color associated with safety.
We invite everyone at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, school districts and charter schools to wear orange in solidarity. We’ll share our photos and your photos on CFSS social media. Please email your photos of students, teachers, administrators and support staff wearing orange on Unity Day to cfss@dpi.nc.gov.
After months of planning, I’m pleased to announce that the CFSS’ Parent Engagement Committee has been formed. This committee is our first step in helping parents elevate their voice in their children’s safety in schools.
The Parent Engagement Committee will meet eight times during the 2023-24 school year, including two in-person meetings. The first meeting will be held in-person Friday, Oct. 27 at the Education Building in Raleigh.
Finally, my monthly video message is available on YouTube. This month's topic is threat assessment, including House Bill 605. Click here to view the video.
During the month of October, I encourage you to be proactive in creating a world free of bullying, and that includes cyberbullying. Thank you for your cooperation to help keep our schools safer.
— Karen W. Fairley
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N.C. General Statute 115C-105.57 requires the Center for Safer Schools to conduct an annual census of school resource officers located in each public-school unit. The 2023-2024 Census contains 31 multiple choice questions and two open-ended questions.
The question categories include General Background and Demographic Information, Agency and Funding Information, Training and Continuing Education, SRO Placements and Extra-Curricular Activities, School Safety Practices, Crimes on Campus and SRO Perspectives.
This survey is designed to be completed in one sitting. It should take only a few minutes to complete the survey, and all responses are confidential. Your answers will help identify the support and resources you might need.
The survey can be accessed here and will close Dec. 1, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.
Thank you for all that you do to help keep our schools and the children of North Carolina safer and secure.
 Center for Safer Schools Social Media Coordinator Dawson Walker (left) and Student Engagement Manager Chelsea King (center) play CFSS Bingo with a family at Whole Health Resources and Family Fun Day on Sept. 30 in Wendell. (CFSS photo)
The Center for Safer Schools was among dozens of vendors that participated in Whole Health Resources and Family Fun Day on Saturday, Sept. 30 in Wendell. Led by the Student Engagement Team, staff members spoke to attendees about CFSS programs that support children and families, including SHINE, SEED and Educating Kids About Gun and Gang Violence (EKG2). Staff members also distributed brochures and played CFSS Bingo while the film “Choices” played in the background.
 Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley speaks during the Sept. 20 meeting of the Task Force for Safer Schools in Raleigh. (CFSS photo)
The Task Force for Safer Schools – an advisory board to the Center for Safer Schools – held its first meeting of the 2023-24 school year on Wednesday, Sept. 20 in Raleigh. CFSS Executive Director Karen W. Fairley discussed new initiatives, including House Bill 605 and the Parent Engagement Committee. She also gave an update on ongoing programs, such as Educating Kids About Gun and Gang Violence (EKG2) and the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System.
 Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley (right) tours Tillery Charter Academy in Biscoe on Thursday, Sept. 28 with Tillery Principal Teresa Barber (left) and Biscoe police Assistant Chief Tina Medlin. (CFSS photo)
Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley on Thursday, Sept. 28 visited Tillery Charter Academy in Biscoe. She took a tour of Tillery’s new K-6 facilities, which opened Monday, Sept. 25.
Fairley received updates and feedback from Tillery Principal Teresa Barber, Biscoe police Assistant Chief Tina Medlin and Tillery safety director Pauline Jackson. She also met with a group of over a dozen students to discuss her role in helping keep schools safer.
When the topic turned to bullying, a student named Joey replied, “At this school, we don’t accept bullying!”
The Center for Safer Schools wants to thank Principal Teresa Barber and Tillery Charter Academy for inviting us on a great tour!
N.C. Youth Leadership Training will be held Friday, Oct. 20 in Research Triangle Park. North Carolina SAVE Promise Clubs will come together to learn and experience activities from the Start With Hello and Say Something programs from Sandy Hook Promise. Click here to register.
- Keep a journal to document bullying. Gently elicit the story from your child, gather information and write down details and facts.
- Project the assurance to your child that you will see to their protection and safety. If they are the target of or witness to bullying, assure them that it is not their fault.
- Meet with school personnel to make them aware of the situation. Regulate your feelings when you talk with them.
- Make talking about emotional life normal. Children will be more likely to bring up difficult issues, so they don’t fester and become harmful.
- Make learning about relationships a priority. Parents can incorporate conversations about interpersonal relationships while reading storybooks or observing everyday interactions.
- Remember that federal legislation gives students the legal right to learn in a safe environment and offers special protections for bullying based on race, sex or disability. If physical threats are involved, law enforcement might be of help, informally or formally.
The Center for Safer Schools announces the remaining dates for School Risk Management Plan training in 2023.
Online sessions via Webex will be held Tuesday, Oct. 17 from 2-4 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 24 from 1-3 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 8 from 3-5 p.m.; and Tuesday, Dec. 5 from 2-4 p.m.
An in-person session will be held Wednesday, Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Training Center in Moore County.
After completing SRMP training, attendees will be able to:
- Input site-based school data to develop a comprehensive schematic diagram and plans into the SRMP portal.
- Both identify and discuss vulnerabilities and training gaps in their individual plans.
- At least once annually initiate a full schoolwide tabletop exercise on the procedures documented in the SRMP portal.
To obtain the most beneficial training within the SRMP system, charter school personnel should ensure that their school has been loaded into the SRMP and that they have an active NCID and are able to log into SRMP. LEA personnel should make sure they can log into SRMP using their NCID.
If you are not able to log in, click here to try to reset your NCID password first.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop, as they will receive technical guidance to ensure their plans meet the necessary state requirements. Please register for only one session, as they’re all the same.
The Center for Safer Schools and N.C. Emergency Management invite school districts and charter schools across the state to participate in the 2023 Great Southeast ShakeOut on Thursday, Oct. 19.
The ShakeOut is an annual public earthquake drill where millions of people in schools, organizations and homes simultaneously practice “Drop, Cover and Hold On,” which is the recommended action for people to take during an earthquake to reduce the risk of injury.
Although Oct. 19 is the official ShakeOut date this year, school districts and individual schools can choose their own date (or multiple dates) to accommodate as many people and schedules as possible. The drill can be completed together in person or at home via videoconferencing and offers your schools and community an opportunity to consider how they would respond to an earthquake while identifying potential refinements to your district’s emergency response plan.
Click here to register and perform a “Drop, Cover and Hold On” drill on Oct. 19 at 10:19 a.m. (or a date and time that works best for you). Once registered you will:
- Learn how your schools can be more prepared for earthquakes.
- Be counted in the world’s largest earthquake drill.
- Receive ShakeOut news and other information about earthquakes and preparedness.
- Make a difference by motivating others to participate and be prepared.
The ShakeOut website includes drill planning resources, general preparedness information, mitigation guidance and educational activities including lesson plans. The Great Southeast ShakeOut is organized by the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium and its member and associate state emergency management agencies. While infrequent, damaging earthquakes can occur at any time across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
If you have questions, contact Laura Silver with N.C. Emergency Management.
The Transportation Security Administration will hold an online training session Wednesday, Nov. 8 on how to utilize its Exercise Information System (EXIS) platform.
EXIS is a free online exercise tool that guides users through the exercise (discussion tabletop to functional exercises) planning process and provides resources to design, document and evaluate exercises for all transportation modes. EXIS is designed to provide transportation operators with a scalable exercise design process that allows them to plan, conduct and evaluate their operations against clear and consistent performance measures.
Click here to create a user account in EXIS prior to the training. Click here to view the webinar.
During the fall semester, Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley will continue her tours of North Carolina school districts and charter schools. She would like to see anything public school units want to showcase regarding school safety. For school districts, include stops at an elementary school, a middle school and a high school. Fairley also would like to take time to talk with a small group of students. To request a tour, send an email to cfss@dpi.nc.gov.
SRMP Training
(Registration is free)
- Tuesday, Oct. 17; 2-4 p.m.: Register
- Tuesday, Oct. 24; 1-3 p.m.: Register
- Wednesday, Nov. 8; 10 a.m.-noon; Center for Safer Schools Training Cener, 3600 Samarcand Road, Jackson Springs: Register
- Wednesday, Nov. 8; 3-5 p.m.: Register
- Tuesday, Dec. 5; 2-4 p.m.: Register
Drop, Cover and Hold On
(Registration is free)
N.C. Youth Leadership Training
(Registration is free)
- Friday, Oct. 20, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Frontier RTP, 800 Park Offices Drive, Research Triangle Park: Register
Exercise Information System Training
(Registration is free)
- Wednesday, Nov. 8, 1-2 p.m.: Webinar
The Center for Safer Schools welcomes newsletter submissions about school safety events from school districts and charter schools across North Carolina. Email your information and photos to CFSS Public Relations Specialist Charles Kinnin.
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