Actionable Steps for Community and School Security Leadership – In this fast-paced society, more than ever we want to make sure our children are safe and secure. Because our children spend so much of their young lives as part of their school communities, ensuring their security is critically important, and takes a team leadership approach. As we enter a new academic year, K-12 school administrators, school board members, security officers and local law enforcement will focus on a multitude of issues and do their best to anticipate complex student needs and challenges. Among those concerns is preparing as best as possible for the unexpected security crises that may occur.
Through past tragedies such as Columbine, we have learned that effective preparation in creating an emergency and all-inclusive communications security plan is critical in a serious security situation. But how do we get there? How do we bring all the necessary parties to the table? Once we come together, how do we best communicate with each other in order to jointly accomplish our objectives, and what tool can we use to assess our current security risk? What resources are available to urban and rural Oklahoma school districts and local law enforcement to implement cost-effective and top quality security measures?
The probability of an attack on any one school, one school bus, or one student is low, but it is the challenge of every related decision maker to plan for the low probability, high-impact event, even in the face of limited resources.
The Oklahoma Department of Homeland Security, the Oklahoma Department of Education, the University of Central Oklahoma and the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism will present a one day School Security Seminar for Oklahoma public school security communities to address this multifaceted and complex issue, and walk participants through the process of assessing current security risks, accessing resources to help implement changes, and obtaining additional information critical to the development of a comprehensive school security plan.
Who should attend?
Each school district is encouraged to bring a school security team representative of these groups:
- Public School Superintendents
- Public School Administrators
- School Security Officers/Coordinators
- School Board Officials
- Communications Specialists
- Chiefs of Police
- Sheriff’s Offices
- Law Enforcement Liaisons to Public School Districts
Please note: Attendance at this seminar may benefit school districts when applying for future Oklahoma Homeland Security funds.