2024 Fourth Quarter Newsletter

The Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety

Back to School with VCSCS

A Message from VCSCS Director Donna Michaelis

As students of all ages fill seats again on campuses across the Commonwealth, let this newsletter act as a reminder that VCSCS is here to serve you and your colleagues. In fiscal year 2024, we trained 16,880 individuals across Virginia through 329 in-person and 94 live virtual trainings!

With a variety of resources from school safety and climate data reports, suicide prevention public service announcements, conferences, eLearning courses on aberrant behavior recognition, to in-person training on the school-law enforcement partnership, we look forward to serving the needs of all our K-12 and higher education institutions. If you or your locality have a need for training, we encourage you to contact us using the button below.

In this newsletter, we highlight information from our higher education team, share new crisis management resources, join the fight against fentanyl abuse and human trafficking, and more. We also can't forget to thank the hundreds of you who joined us in July at our School Safety Training Forum (SSTF). If you missed it, you can check out the resource link below. Thank you for your continued partnership in making Virginia schools, campuses, and communities safer.

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SSTF Resources

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Institutions of Higher Education

Don't forget!

If your first-year college students need campus safety and emergency preparedness training (as required by Code of Virginia § 23.1-808.2), we offer our on-demand Civilian Response and Casualty Care eLearning course in four different languages. Click the button below for more information and registration.

Campus Safety Training

New Human Trafficking eLearning Training

Log into your Benchmark LMS and search the available training tab for "Human Trafficking for LEO/Schools" to take our new eLearning course, which is intended to provide both school and law enforcement personnel with basic information about this important issue.

This self-paced 30-minute module will provide basics regarding applicable code sections, an introduction to the grooming process, emotional and physical considerations, how to recognize indicators, and how both K-12 and higher education environments can prevent and respond to victims.

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HT Resources

Crisis Management Planning

We have developed a new School Model Crisis Management Plan Template. Several additional crisis response resources have also been developed, including an age-appropriate curriculum to be used with Pre-K and high school students, parents, and staff. VCSCS will also be offering in-person crisis planning training upon request.

More Information

Data by the Numbers

More Information

K-12 Behavioral Threat Assessment Director/Manager Virtual Roundtables

The VCSCS K-12 threat assessment team strives to provide all K-12 threat assessors with valuable information and resources. We will continue to host roundtable discussions each quarter for the 2024-25 school year.

If you missed the last session on September 30, save the dates for December 12, 2024, March 27, 2025, and June 26, 2025, from 9:30 to 10:30 am. These virtual events are crucial platforms for you to share your insights and learn from others across the Commonwealth, and we hope to "see" you there!

Threat assessment team members are invited to register for these roundtables by searching "Roundtable" in the "Available Training" tab on Benchmark or by clicking the link below:

Fentanyl Awareness

Have you seen the fentanyl awareness sheet from the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Department of Health? House Bill 1473 formed this partnership with the goal of preventing and reducing youth substance misuse. Download this and other valuable resources to share with your students below:

Learn More

Be Safe Virginia

Our new program designed to educate Pre-K through fifth-grade students in Virginia’s public schools about essential public health and safety topics is one of the many resources referenced in our Back to School Memo released in August. Ready to put it into action? Download the materials here:

Be Safe VA

SRO of the Quarter

Natalie Mathews, SRO/Deputy, Isle of Wight County Sheriff's Office

"As you enter the front doors of most high schools, you will see some expected sights; a bustling vestibule, administrators greeting sleepy teenagers, and a breakfast crowd waiting to snatch up a breakfast item and run to class. Here at Windsor High School, we have another sight to take in -the smiling face of our SRO, Deputy Mathews.

Deputy Mathews came to Windsor High School last year. She had worked as an SRO in another school district previously. When she first walked in the doors, I am sure she may have questioned what she had gotten herself into, but she never let that show to the rest of us if she did. Deputy Mathews quickly became a favorite of our staff and students. A source of encouragement and support, along with honest conversations about right and wrong all the while modeling service to humanity. Students now seek her out between classes, and sometimes even during classes, and engage her as she has become a trusted place for their worries and joys to land.

However, her greatest work has shone through during the most difficult of times at Windsor. She is one of the most trusted members of the Emergency Response Team. She and Nurse Shea have learned to respond in sync during events of crisis. She always stays one step ahead of the requests and jumps in wherever she is needed. Her ability to think critically through events and remain calm and collected is a highly valued skill set that can not be taught.

The roles and responsibilities of SROs are more than law, order, and security. SROs are valuable assets to the world of academia, and we are beyond grateful to have Deputy Mathews serving and protecting within ours." - Windsor High School Staff

We are thrilled to hear about this strong school-law enforcement partnership! If you have a School Resource Officer, Campus Security Officer, or School Security Officer success story you'd like us to highlight in a future newsletter, submit their details below:

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