- From the Executive Director
- RISE 2024 Registration
- Threat Assessment Training
- Sandy Hook Promise Visit
- National SAVE Summit
- Mental Health Awareness Month
- ALPS Spotlight
- School Spotlight
- School Safety Grant
- SRMP Training
- Executive Director Tours
- Join Our Team
- Calendar of Events
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As the school year comes to a close, let’s take a moment to reflect on the importance of safety within our educational community. Whether you’re a student, teacher, staff member or parent, ensuring a safe environment is a collective responsibility we all share.
First, let’s prioritize physical safety. Remain vigilant in following safety protocols in your school, community and home.
Second, emotional safety is equally crucial. Let’s foster an atmosphere of respect, kindness and understanding. Be mindful of the impact our words and actions can have on others. Stand up against bullying or harassment and seek support if you or someone you know is struggling emotionally. Our Say Something Anonymous Reporting System is still available during the summer.
Lastly, let’s celebrate the accomplishments of the school year while also looking forward to a safe and rejuvenating break. Whether you’re traveling, spending time with loved ones or simply relaxing at home, prioritize your well-being and make choices that contribute to your safety and the safety of others.
Remember that safety is not just a checklist. It’s a mindset and a commitment to one another’s well-being. Let’s continue to work together to create a school environment where everyone feels safe, valued and empowered to thrive. Wishing you all a wonderful end to the school year and a safe, enjoyable summer ahead!
Click here to view my monthly video message on YouTube, which for May focuses on our signature event: the 2024 RISE Back to School Safety Summit. Follow the CFSS on social media for more information and updates.
Thank you as we work together to make schools safer.
— Karen W. Fairley
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Registration is open for the 2024 RISE Back to School Safety Summit. The Center for Safer Schools’ signature event will be held from Monday, July 29 to Friday, Aug. 2 at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington.
RISE training focuses on the Resiliency, Information, Support and Empowerment needed when supporting children and adolescents in schools and communities. This training offers a variety of information sessions to participants covering the areas of bullying, suicide, opioid and substance use, critical incidents and other vital information about trauma and victimization among children and adolescents, and how these various dynamics impact school climate and school safety.
New for RISE 2024 is a parent/student component, which will be held (by invitation only) during the last two days of the summit. Training sessions will not be recorded and are closed to the media. However, media representatives are invited to attend on the opening day.
Click here to register. Information on the training schedule is forthcoming. Follow the CFSS on social media for more details as they become available.
The Center for Safer Schools will hold Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Training for public school units on Friday, June 7. The session will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Education Building, 301 N. Wilmington St., Raleigh.
The training is for BTAM teams, BTAM coordinators/leaders in PSUs and any staff who are responsible for setting up and monitoring BTAM teams. The training will include identifying, evaluating and managing potential threats to school safety.
The training aims to create a proactive approach to school behavioral threat assessment, focusing on early intervention and prevention rather than simply reacting to incidents after they occur. Topics will include Understanding Behavioral Threats, Risk Factors and Warning Signs, Assessment Protocols, Team Approach and Requirements, Intervention and Monitoring, Legal and Ethical Considerations, and Safety and Intervention Planning.
The training also will discuss the implementation and monitoring of the fidelity of behavioral threat assessment. A scenario-based approach will be discussed and shared to help participants understand the overall BTAM process and monitoring with fidelity.
The CFSS guidance document for school threat assessment teams is available here. Teams are encouraged to bring their BTAM protocol for review. If PSUs do not have a current protocol, a best practice protocol example will be provided. Protocol development and monitoring also will be discussed.
Click here to register for Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Training. The registration deadline is Friday, May 31. If you have questions, send an email to cfss@dpi.nc.gov.
 ABOVE: Center for Safer Schools Executive Director Karen W. Fairley speaks during an April 18 meeting with representatives from Sandy Hook Promise and the University of Michigan at the Education Building in Raleigh. BELOW: Dr. Justin Heinze with the University of Michigan makes a presentation. (CFSS photos)
On Thursday, April 18, the Center for Safer Schools hosted representatives from Sandy Hook Promise and the University of Michigan. The meeting was held to provide updates to a study on the effectiveness of the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System.
The University of Michigan study is funded by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant. It is intended to better understand the tens of thousands of tips reported to SSARS in North Carolina since 2019 and to identify best practices to improve and sustain reporting behavior.
The CFSS is part of the Data Advisory Board, which helps translate the findings from the analyses into actionable steps to improve how schools and students utilize SSARS. The CFSS provides guidance to the research team as it considers school- and community-level data to ensure that factors relevant to school stakeholders are included in analyses.
CFSS Executive Director Karen W. Fairley said the findings will guide the CFSS’ efforts to educate students and staff about SSARS and improve schools’ ability to respond to concerns as they arise. Part of that focus is student engagement, specifically the CFSS’ work to support existing SAVE Promise Clubs and to reactivate dormant chapters.
“Anonymous reporting should be part of the tools we give to students,” she said. “I need to know these SAVE clubs are not just on paper.”
Dr. Justin Heinze with the University of Michigan praised the work being done in North Carolina, one of only two states where SSARS has been implemented statewide. A goal of the study, he said, is for North Carolina to be a model for other states.
“We really want our research to be beneficial to all involved,” he said.
After the CFSS meeting, the University of Michigan hosted virtual sessions with school officials to receive feedback on how SSARS works for North Carolina public-school units.
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 Angie Bynum (right) and Dawne Orange speak during the unveiling of a memorial to Alex Orange near the entrance of West Charlotte High School during the 2024 SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit on April 20. (CFSS photos)
Members of the Center for Safer Schools Student Engagement Team attended the 2024 SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit in Charlotte on Saturday, April 20. The event helped celebrate the 35th anniversary of SAVE Promise Club at the school where it was founded: West Charlotte High School.
The annual gathering of youth leaders of SAVE Promise Club – the youth voice of Sandy Hook Promise – showcased best practices in preventing violence and helping young people feel connected. The summit allowed youth voices to be heard in workshops and activities that encouraged, educated, engaged and empowered youth with violence prevention strategies.
During the summit, SAVE founders reflected on the club’s beginnings and the impact it still has.
In April 1989, West Charlotte student-athlete Alex Orange, 17, was shot and killed during a party. Shortly afterward, Orange’s friend Angie Bynum approached teacher Gary Weart and asked if a club could be formed to help prevent future acts of violence.
Three hundred students attended the founding meeting of what would become Students Against Violence Everywhere. Thirty-five years later, SAVE Promise Club has more than 4,600 chapters in 49 states.
Before the summit’s opening ceremony, Bynum, Dawne Orange (mother of Alex Orange) and Weart unveiled a memorial to Alex Orange near the school’s entrance. Weart said SAVE was destined to be founded at West Charlotte.
“The tradition came with it. The love came with it. It’s all about the heart,” he said. “I’m here for a purpose. I’ll do it until the day I die.”
During the opening ceremony, Dawne Orange thanked those in attendance for their work with SAVE and encouraged them to keep going.
“Keep looking after others, even if it gets tough,” she said. “Don’t give up. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t quit.”
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 This photo and the photo above show breakout sessions during the summit.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, when we break the silence surrounding mental health. It’s a month to foster understanding, offer support and promote access to care. By challenging stigma, we can create communities where everyone feels seen, heard and valued.
Raising mental health awareness among children is crucial for the following reasons:
- Early Intervention: Recognizing mental health issues early can lead to timely intervention and treatment, preventing symptoms from worsening into adulthood.
- Emotional Intelligence: It helps children accurately recognize and interpret their own emotions, which is essential for their overall development.
- Positive Attitude: Promoting a positive attitude in children encourages fairness, honesty and safe, healthy behaviors.
- Prevention Over Treatment: Prevention of mental health issues is more cost-effective and leads to better health and well-being outcomes than treatment alone.
If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, call, chat or text 988 to speak with a trained crisis counselor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Center for Safer Schools has developed a new section in its newsletter to highlight the work teachers, administrators, principals and staff do in Alternative Learning Programs and Schools (ALPS). This month’s theme is self-care.
A foundational way to begin fostering a healthier school climate is to help educators and school staff get in touch with, explore and cultivate their individual wellness. Taking care of yourself allows you to take care of others.
Take a minute to check in with how well you are taking care of yourself:
- How do you carve out “me time” during the workday, and what do you do?
- How do you make time for exercise, and what kind of exercise do you like to do?
- What do you do during the week to nurture your spiritual health?
- How do you unwind and recharge after work?
- How do you care for yourself when you have had an upsetting or stressful day?
- What strategies do you use to eat healthy?
- What morning routine helps you prepare emotionally for the day?
- What do you do with your friends or family that re-energizes you?
Share your self-care strategy here for a chance to be featured on CFSS social media. We hope sharing your self-care strategies can inspire other educators across North Carolina.
Western Harnett High School
Western Harnett High School SAVE Promise Club officers attended the 2024 SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit in Charlotte on Saturday, April 20. They attended workshops on conflict management, building empathy and creating mentorship, gathering ideas to help keep their school safer.
LEFT: Western Harnett High School SAVE Promise Club officers (from left) Branley Aleman (Vice President), Lindsey Garcia (Secretary), Krystyna Dzienisiewicz (President) and Theo Burchard (Media Coordinator/Treasurer) stand in front of the Alex Orange Memorial at West Charlotte High School. (Submitted photo)
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Onslow County Schools
Onslow County Schools recognizes the importance of safety and security in our schools. We know that our primary mission, educating our students, cannot happen if they, and the staff that serve them, do not feel safe at school. One simple measure stands out as a cornerstone of safety: locking doors. While it might seem like a basic and intuitive precaution, the importance of ensuring that doors are locked cannot be overstated when it comes to safeguarding students and staff from potential threats.
Onslow County Schools recently had a safety assessment conducted by a third-party agency, and an area of emphasis from this assessment was keeping doors locked and refraining from propping doors open for ease of use. To address this, during the 2023-2024 school year, Onslow County Schools introduced the “Stop the Prop” campaign to raise awareness among students and staff about the importance of keeping school doors closed and locked.
Locking doors serves as a deterrent against unauthorized entry into schools. By maintaining locked doors, schools can control access to the building and reduce the risk of intruders gaining entry without permission. Whether it’s a threat from an external source or an internal emergency situation, locked doors serve as a crucial barrier, potentially saving lives by delaying or preventing access to vulnerable areas. Additionally, this measure not only helps protect students and staff from threats but also helps minimize the potential for criminal acts such as theft or vandalism.
The “Stop the Prop” campaign is important, yet it is a relatively simple and inexpensive initiative. Onslow County Schools worked with a local vendor to have “Stop the Prop” stickers created, which the schools placed on the inside of all exterior doors as a reminder to keep doors closed and locked.
As Onslow County Schools continues to think about the safety and well-being of students and staff, locked doors are just one component of a multilayered, comprehensive safety plan. Encouraging students, staff and community members to report suspicious activity, along with implementing effective drills and training, threat assessment and physical security measures helps to better protect everyone in school communities and promotes an atmosphere conducive to teaching and learning.
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Receiving a high score for funding from the School Safety Grant Program (contingent upon the passage of appropriations from the General Assembly) for public-school units is based in part on meeting legislative requirements, including having a complete and updated School Risk Management Plan, anonymous reporting system and panic alarm (hardwired or app). For more information, send an email to schoolsafetygrants@dpi.nc.gov.
The Center for Safer Schools will hold in-person School Risk Management Plan trainings at the 2024 RISE Back to School Safety Summit.
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.
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.
Tours not completed during the 2023-24 school year will have priority next year. Thank you for your patience as she does what she can to get to as many public school units as possible.
Threat Assessment Training
(Registration is free)
- Friday, June 7; 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Education Building, 301 N. Wilmington St., Raleigh: Register
2024 RISE Back to School Safety Summit
(Registration is free)
- Monday, July 29-Friday, Aug. 2; Cape Fear Community College, 411 N. Front St., Wilmington: Register
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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