This Week in School and Campus Safety

Good morning,

This Weekly Update by the Illinois School and Campus Safety Program discusses transportation safety, shares information on the Illinois School Safety Conference, and promotes the upcoming sessions of Campus Threat Assessment & Management and Behavioral & Digital Threat Assessment.

Thank you for your interest in school and campus safety. However, if you wish to no longer receive our emails, let me know and I will remove you from our contacts list.

Respectfully,

Laura Black

le-black@wiu.edu

Program Coordinator

Illinois School and Campus Safety Program

Transportation Safety

It won't be long now before students across the state head back to classes. No matter their mode of transportation, be it walking, biking, driving, or riding the bus, it is important to keep safety in mind. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) "from 2012 to 2021, there were 206 school-age children who died in school-transportation-related crashes; 42 were occupants of school transportation vehicles, 80 were occupants of other vehicles, 78 were pedestrians, 5 were pedalcyclists, and 1 was an 'other/unknown' nonoccupant." In order to promote traveling to and from school safey, please consider reviewing the following resources:

• Back to School: Keeping Children Safe
• Reducing the Illegal Passing of School Buses
• School Bus Safety
• Planning for Safer School Bus Stops and Routes: A Toolkit for School and Transportation Officials, and School Bus Stakeholders
• Creating a Safe and Respectful Environment on Our Nation's School Buses

Campus Threat Assessment and Management September 10-11th in Normal

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Program is pleased to announce the class Campus Threat Assessment and Management will be held September 10-11th in Normal, IL.

This two-day workshop for institutions of higher education will help participants to better understand the dynamics of targeted violence and to develop and enhance strategies for early identification, assessment, and intervention with concerning situations.

For more information and to register, click here.

Behavioral and Digital Threat Assessment™ 

September 19th in Carterville

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Program, in partnership with Safer Schools Together, is pleased to announce an upcoming session of Behavioral and Digital Threat Assessment™ on September 19th in Carterville, IL.

BDTA™ integrates Safer Schools Together’s Digital Threat Assessment® training and best practice from the National Threat Assessment Center’s Behavioral Threat Assessment model. BDTA™ includes a 3-step response plan developed to help S/TA teams ensure all worrisome, concerning, and threat-related behaviors are proactively responded to, reducing the potential of violence within your community. The training will examine techniques for identifying and assessing individuals who engage in behaviors consistent with a threat and provide S/TA teams with the tools to ensure a thorough data collection process. Additionally, the training will provide an overview of the assessment process, including best practices for interviewing and progress monitoring. Participants will obtain the tools vital for proactively and effectively identifying, assessing, and responding to worrisome and/or threat-related behavior through a BDTA™ management lens.

For more information and to register, click here.

Illinois School Safety Conference October 1st

The Illinois School Safety Conference is scheduled for October 1, 2025, from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm in Niles, IL. This conference is free for school personnel, police, fire, emergency preparedness personnel, and public safety officers (you must bring your school or agency ID to enter the event). The conference includes speakers from various organizations, free continental breakfast and lunch, and onsite vendors. Additionally, paperwork will be provided on site for school personnel seeking Professional Development hours. For more information and to register, click here.