Date: 02/27/2013

Final
Presentation by School Safety Resource Center

COMMITTEE ON JOINT EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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07:50 AM -- Presentation by School Safety Resource Center

Senator Hudak, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, called the meeting to order and invited the presenters to the table. She did not take roll. Kathy Sasak, Deputy Executive Director, Colorado Department of Public Safety, and Christine Harms, Director, Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC), came to the table and distributed a handout (Attachment A). Ms. Sasak told the committee about the background and organizational structure of the Department of Public Safety, which includes: the Division of Public Safety; the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; the Division of Fire Protection and Control; the Division of Criminal Justice; the Colorado Bureau of Investigation; and the Colorado State Patrol. She explained that CSSRC was created by Senate Bill 08-001 as a centralized hub for assistance and resources for all schools in Colorado. Ms. Harms spoke about her professional background and experience at CSSRC and introduced the other CSSRC staff members who were in the audience. She stated that CSSRC's mission is to foster a safe and secure learning environment; assist with prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts; and help schools with early intervention programs to prevent crises from occurring in schools. Ms. Harms explained that CSSRC works especially hard to serve rural school districts, and also provides technical training, outreach, and resources to all schools in Colorado. She talked about the increase in the number of hits on the CSSRC website, which she explained is important because that is how CSSRC gauges what topics are of interest to schools. Ms. Harms noted several items of interest in the executive summary of the handout (Attachment A), and spoke about the community organizations with which CSSRC partners. She discussed online training courses on bullying and harassment prevention, and school crisis response methods that are particularly useful to rural schools.

13JtEd0227AttachA.pdf13JtEd0227AttachA.pdf

08:02 AM

Ms. harms told the committee about CSSRC's threat assessment training and concluded her presentation. Representative Hamner asked if CSSRC has determined the elements that make a school safe in terms of its policies and procedures and the structure of the facilities. Ms. Harms responded that CSSRC provides a safety checklist to schools but that they do no perform facility assessments. Senator Todd spoke about the difficulty of keeping up with new technological methods of bullying and asked whether CSSRC updates its resources based on new forms of bullying. Ms. Harms told the committee about CSSRC's workshops on cyber-bullying.


08:13 AM

Senator Todd spoke about the growing culture of violence in schools and asked whether CSSRC partners with law enforcement agencies. Ms. Harms spoke about student engagement and stated that it is critical to teach students social skills in order to promote positive school climates that focus on equity. Representative Buckner asked whether CSSRC evaluates the effectiveness of school safety programs across the state.