- From the Executive Director
- RISE Call for Proposals
- NCSBT Risk Management Conference
- Student Engagement Visits
- Human Trafficking Awareness Forum
- SRMP Training
- SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit
- YMHFA Training
- Executive Director Tours
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The Center for Safer Schools’ vision is that all North Carolina schools offer an environment conducive to learning. We work diligently to support school districts and charter schools as they work to create a positive school climate.
The CFSS recently took a couple steps to advance our vision.
Our Student Engagement Team sent out a letter introducing themselves to SAVE Promise Club advisors statewide. Read more about one of their ongoing projects later in this newsletter.
We are committed to both supporting active SAVE Promise Clubs and helping to reactivate dormant clubs. If your SAVE club is planning an event and would like the Student Engagement Team’s involvement, send an email with the details to Stacie.Alston@dpi.nc.gov.
The Behavioral Health Subcommittee of the CFSS Multidisciplinary Team – led by Dr. Stephanie Ellis and Michelle Guarino – has been working tirelessly on guidance for school threat assessment teams. We are pleased to announce that we’ll issue a guidance document this month.
The CFSS also will hold training sessions to support public-school units as they form their threat assessment teams. If you have questions, send an email to cfss@dpi.nc.gov.
Click here to view my monthly video message on YouTube, which for March focuses on how the Center for Safer Schools supports public-school units as it relates to school climate and discipline.
Thank you as we work together to make schools safer.
— Karen W. Fairley
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The 2024 RISE Back to School Safety Summit – the Center for Safer Schools’ signature event – will be held in Wilmington from Monday, July 29-Friday, Aug. 2. If you or someone you know has a school safety workshop that would be appreciated by participants at the summit, please complete the Call for Proposals form for each presenter and each topic.
The submission deadline is Friday, March 29, 2024, with notifications going out in late April. If you have questions, send an email to cfss@dpi.nc.gov.
 Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley speaks about SAVE Promise Club at the North Carolina School Boards Trust Risk Management Conference on Feb. 28 in Raleigh. (CFSS photo)
Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley on Wednesday, Feb. 28 made a presentation at the North Carolina School Boards Trust Risk Management Conference in Raleigh. She gave updates on ongoing CFSS programs and provided information on new initiatives for 2024.
An initiative that’s new to the CFSS in 2024 is Alternative Learning Programs and Schools. ALPS are safe, orderly, caring and inviting learning environments that assist students with overcoming challenges that might place them “at-risk” of academic failure.
Fairley explained to the assembled school board members that the CFSS has been assigned ALPS oversight, which includes establishment of processes, technical assistance, monitoring and evaluation.
In March, the CFSS will issue threat assessment guidance. House Bill 605, which was signed into law in July 2023, mandates threat assessment teams at all North Carolina schools beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
Fairley reiterated that threat assessment is not punitive.
“The whole intent of threat assessment teams is to help the children,” she said.
 Center for Safer Schools Student Engagement Manager Stacie Alston (left) and Student Engagement Coordinator Chelsea King speak about the SHINE and SEED programs Feb. 21 at Phillips Middle School in Battleboro. (CFSS photo)
The Center for Safer Schools Student Engagement Team in February visited Edgecombe County Public Schools to recruit for the SHINE and SEED summer 2024 cohort. The team interacted with students and answered questions at West Edgecombe Middle School in Rocky Mount (Feb. 7), North Edgecombe High School in Leggett (Feb. 8), W.A. Pattillo Middle School in Tarboro (Feb. 9) and Phillips Middle School in Battleboro (Feb. 21).
Safe Healthy Interactive Nurturing Empowerment (SHINE) is designed to prepare sixth- through eighth-graders in creating a safer environment through understanding their school climate and how it affects their safety and that of their fellow students.
Supporting, Educating, Empowering and Developing (SEED) is a yearlong leadership program for ninth- through 12th-graders. SEED provides participants with enriching and constructive summer opportunities, leadership enhancement, coaching and mentorship from local community leaders.
For more information about the SHINE and SEED programs, send an email to cfss@dpi.nc.gov.
The Center for Safer Schools will hold in-person and online School Risk Management Plan trainings in the spring.
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. All sessions are the same.
For more information on SRMP training, send an email to CFSS Assistant Director-Physical Security Karen Everett.
Sandy Hook Promise will celebrate 35 years of students taking action during the 2024 SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit in Charlotte. The event will be held Saturday, April 20 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at West Charlotte High School, 2219 Senior Drive.
The annual gathering of SAVE Promise Club youth leaders showcases best practices in preventing violence and helping young people feel connected, and make schools and communities safer with youth-led workshops, peer-to-peer presentations, group activities and guest speakers.
The Youth Summit is a time for youth voices to be heard in workshops and activities that encourage, educate, engage and empower youth with violence prevention strategies.
Click here for more information. Click here to register.
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Are you part of a tribal school or youth-serving organization that wants to implement Youth Mental Health First Aid? Are you implementing Youth Mental Health First Aid in tribal or rural schools or youth-serving organizations and would like instructor support?
YMHFA-related technical assistance and support could look like:
- School-specific or community mentorship and support
- On-site training modeling and mentoring
- Coaching and technical assistance
Technical assistance topics can include:
- Integrating YMHFA into your tribal community, tribal-serving youth organization and/or school
- Understanding the differences between the standard YMHFA course and the Tribal Communities and Indigenous Peoples Community Specific Course
- Resources to market and outreach to tribal leaders, school leaders, youth-serving organizations and programs
- Understanding historical and intergenerational trauma, the resilience of indigenous peoples and the implications of these with YMHFA
- Trauma-informed facilitation skills for YMHFA
- Adult-learning skills for YMHFA
- Navigating Connect: setting up and closing out a course
- Supporting a training group when there has been a community trauma (suicide, loss, etc.)
- Developing your community resource packet for YMHFA
- Developing relevant examples to share in your training (data, etc.)
- Integrating rural data, research and resources into YMHFA within your community
- Resources to market and outreach to rural schools and youth-serving organizations
- Meetings with other communities, schools and/or tribes navigating similar work to share best practices and successes
- Instructor support teaching YMHFA: challenges with timing, specific content, audience challenges, etc.
- Auditing a YMHFA course with a national trainer to gain tips and strategies to add to teaching notes
Start by taking a survey to share more about what your needs are. For program information, send an email to Ruby Brown-Herring with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
 Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley (back row, third from left) toured Dare County Schools on Feb. 16. (Submitted photo)
Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley is touring North Carolina school districts and charter schools and would like to see anything they want to showcase regarding school safety. For school districts, this includes 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.
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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