Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SCHOOL SAFETY AND YOUTH IN CRISIS

Date:07/14/2015
ATTENDANCE
Time:09:03 AM to 12:08 PM
Cadman
E
Crews
X
Place:HCR 0112
Duran
X
Ganahl
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Harms
X
Senator Scheffel
Kerr
X
Lawson
X
This Report was prepared by
McDonald
X
Lisa Gezelter
Moreno
X
Newell
X
O'Donnell
E
Scheffel
X
Silvia
X
Weinerman
X
Wilson
E
Willett
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
Election of Chair and Vice Chair
Committee Charge Presentation
Informational Presentation: CSSRC
Informational Presentation: Safe2Tell
Informational Presentation: Colorado Society of School Psychologists
Public Comment
Discussion of Future Meetings and Presentation Topics		Recommendation(s) Approved
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only


09:04 AM -- Election of Chair and Vice Chair

Senator Scheffel called the meeting to order.
BILL:Election of Chair and Vice Chair
TIME: 09:05:03 AM
MOVED:Duran
MOTION:Elect Senator Scheffel to be the committee chair. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0, with two members excused.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Cadman
Excused
Crews
Duran
Yes
Ganahl
Harms
Kerr
Yes
Lawson
McDonald
Moreno
Yes
Newell
Yes
O'Donnell
Scheffel
Yes
Silvia
Weinerman
Wilson
Excused
Willett
Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:Election of Chair and Vice Chair
TIME: 09:06:02 AM
MOVED:Scheffel
MOTION:Elect Representative Duran to be the committee Vice-Chair. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0, with two members excused.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Cadman
Excused
Crews
Duran
Yes
Ganahl
Harms
Kerr
Yes
Lawson
McDonald
Moreno
Yes
Newell
Yes
O'Donnell
Scheffel
Yes
Silvia
Weinerman
Wilson
Excused
Willett
Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

09:07 AM -- Committee Charge Presentation

Senator Scheffel, Chair, welcomed the committee and audience members and asked the committee members to introduce themselves. The non-voting committee members introduced themselves and spoke about their reasons for being appointed to the committee. The voting members of the committee introduced themselves, spoke about their districts, and their concerns related to school safety and youth.



Senator Scheffel relayed a request from the Governor to the committee that Desiree Davis be appointed a Special Advisor to the committee and stated that the request had the endorsement of legislative leadership.
BILL:Committee Charge Presentation
TIME: 09:23:39 AM
MOVED:Scheffel
MOTION:Appoint Desiree Davis Special Advisor to the School Safety and Youth in Crisis Interim Committee. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0, with two members excused.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Cadman
Excused
Crews
Duran
Yes
Ganahl
Harms
Kerr
Yes
Lawson
McDonald
Moreno
Yes
Newell
Yes
O'Donnell
Scheffel
Yes
Silvia
Weinerman
Wilson
Excused
Willett
Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

09:26 AM

Senator Newell spoke about parents whose children have been victims of school violence, and explained her desire to make sure their voices are heard.

09:26 AM

Kerry White, representing Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to review the packet that was distributed to legislators, including the committee's charge memorandum (Attachment A), Senate Bill 15-214, Senate Bill 14-213, and a research memorandum describing state law as it relates to school safety. She went over the charge of the committee, including the topics it is tasked with studying, the process and deadlines for bill requests, and the parameters of its work. Ms. White responded to questions from the committee about the deadlines for drafting legislation and voting on the bills to be sent to Legislative Council.

150714 AttachA.pdf150714 AttachA.pdf






09:31 AM -- Informational Presentation: CSSRC

Christine Harms, representing the Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC), gave an overview of the work of the center. She distributed three handouts to the committee (Attachments B, C, and D). She introduced the staff, and spoke about school safety plans and the requirements placed on districts. She discussed the Colorado Safe Schools Act (Section 22-32-109.1, C.R.S.). She described suggestions the CSSRC gives for schools; the accomplishments of the CSSRC; and the number of training classes, consultations, online courses, and other services the center provides. She discussed grants provided to districts by the CSSRC as well as the center's work with rural school districts. She spoke about the center's current initiatives to enhance school climate; train district emergency management teams; manage businesses assisting schools with safety expertise; and a program called Youth Engaged in School Safety, involving youth from rural parts of the state.

150714 AttachB.pdf150714 AttachB.pdf150714 AttachC.pdf150714 AttachC.pdf150714 AttachD.pdf150714 AttachD.pdf

Ms. Harms discussed a variety of work groups facilitated by the CSSRC throughout its history. She described the center's work with institutions of higher education, the Threat Assessment Work Group, and training provided on that topic. Ms. Harms responded to questions from the committee. Ms. Harms and committee members discussed issues surrounding liability, immunity, and efforts made by school districts to maintain safe environments. They discussed the definition of reasonable care, as used in Senate Bill 15-213, as well as rising insurance premiums for school districts. They talked about threat assessments, training, processes, consistency across schools and districts, and the challenges of providing mental health services in rural areas. Ms. Harms described the advice her office gives to schools and districts conducting threat assessments and described threat assessments as a snapshot in time, emphasizing that they are not predictive of future behavior.

09:52 AM

Ms. Harms responded to questions about suicide prevention and discussed statistics surrounding school shooters and suicide. The committee discussed funding challenges associated with providing mental health services in schools, the dangers posed to students when untrained staff try to provide support services, and the importance of providing more mental health professionals in schools and communities. Ms. Harms spoke about the annual school safety summit and how more resources would benefit districts and schools who need to provide more training. In response to questions from the committee, she discussed how to identify homicidal students, listing changes in behavior, and a fascination with weapons and other school shootings as identifiers. The committee asked about school districts that require teachers to attend threat assessment training. Ms. Harms responded that no districts require it, but teachers receive credit hours for attending these training classes, which apply to professional development requirements. She discussed the role parents play as partners with school officials and asserted that parents should question schools about safety efforts. The committee discussed open lines of communication between parents and school personnel. Ms. Harms said the center is often invited to schools to do workshops for parents, but described parents as often too busy to attend. The committee questioned Ms. Harms about the HealthyKids survey. Ms. Harms described the value of the information provided by the survey and how the information is used. The committee discussed Title 9 work being done to prevent sexual assault in the schools. Ms. Harms described her work with a higher education networking group and spoke about a child sex abuse prevention expert starting work at the CSSRC soon.



10:10 AM -- Informational Presentation: Safe2Tell

Susan Payne, Executive Director of Safe2Tell, distributed four handouts to the committee (Attachments E, F, G, and H). Ms. Payne introduced herself and described her work history and her experience as a parent. She spoke about anonymous reporting of school safety issues, and the concerns that students have about reporting, including retaliation and bullying. She discussed training school officials and parents. Ms. Payne told the committee about efforts in Nevada and described school shootings around the country and lessons that can be learned. She described the importance of a safe, anonymous way for students to report concerns about school safety. She spoke about threat assessments and threat management, and asserted that mental health treatment continues to be an issue. She spoke about a safe schools initiative and a study conducted by the US Secret Service. According to the study, in 81 percent of school shootings, somebody knew of the shooter's plans ahead of time and in 59 percent of the shootings, more than one person knew. In 93 percent of the cases, peers knew, but not adults.

150714 AttachE.pdf150714 AttachE.pdf150714 AttachF.pdf150714 AttachF.pdf150714 AttachG.pdf150714 AttachG.pdf150714 AttachH.pdf150714 AttachH.pdf

She described the situation in Colorado, and stated that up to six suicidal kids are reported to Safe2Tell each evening. She stated that the handling and prevention of suicides needs to change. Ms. Payne told the committee that a young person will see the signs in a peer. She stated that there is no profile of school shooters, except that there is usually a bullying component. She described how suicidal kids are now considered a danger to others, whereas in the past they were not. She described prevention efforts in other parts of the country. She spoke about consistent training universally applied. She spoke about trends in drug use and abuse, dating violence, and bullying as precipitators to violence.

10:31 AM

Ms. Payne gave a statistical analysis of Safe2Tell's work. She stated that since 2004, of the total reports received, 54 percent have been calls, 42 percent web reports, and 5 percent text messages. She stated that web reports are now 80 to 90 percent of the reports received by Safe2Tell. She described a new mobile app that Safe2Tell launched July 1, 2015 to facilitate reporting that features live 2-way communication with state law enforcement agencies. She discussed federal efforts to facilitate school safety. She spoke about threat assessment and threat management and the importance of both together. She spoke about restoring learning environments in the aftermath of school violence or accidental deaths, and assessing violent incidents after the fact.

She discussed the outreach and training efforts undertaken by Safe2Tell and her organization's philosophy of bystander and peer engagement. She described the correlation between academic performance and school safety and went over solutions to preventing school violence. She described how innovations in technology can facilitate threat response and management. She described an online toolkit for parents as well as a rising number of reports.

10:46 AM

Ms. Payne responded to questions from the committee. Subjects covered include the new mobile app; how to know if the Safe2Tell program is working; the involvement of social media in school safety; disposition reports after incidents; teams in every school; false reports and anonymity; false reporting used to bully a person; site-based differences in interventions provided by schools, districts, and law enforcement; and the marketing of Safe2Tell to schools and communities.



11:06 AM -- Informational Presentation: Colorado Society of School Psychologists

Franci Crepeau-Hobson, representing the Colorado Society of School Psychologists (CSSP), spoke about her work history, her work with the CSSP Crisis Response Team, her membership in the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and her work on the National School Safety and Crisis Response Committee. She gave a brief explanation of the field of school psychology. She spoke about consultation with parents and teachers to best meet the needs of kids. She stated that there are 700 licensed school psychologists in Colorado. She described the continuing education provided to members of the CSSP in crisis intervention, threat assessment, and other topics related to school safety.

Ms. Crepeau-Hobson spoke about the creation of the CSSP's Crisis Response Team, about the work the team does, and about the model and curricula for providing training classes to school personnel. She spoke about the team's work at Platte Canyon High School, Deer Creek Middle School, Arapahoe High School, after the Aurora Theater shooting, and after recent wildfires and flooding. She described Colorado disaster response groups and teams. She stated that members of CSSP come in to meet students' mental health needs inside schools after crises. She talked about planning, mitigation, and response to crisis-related mental health needs.

11:15 AM

Dr. Hobson responded to questions from the committee. They discussed the ratio of school psychologists to students, how school psychologists in Colorado usually serve at least two schools, whether or not family members can be involved in school-based mental health services, how referrals come to school psychologists, how school psychologists prioritize which students to serve, and caseloads.

11:24 AM -- Public Comment

George Walker, representing himself, spoke about his experience on Governor Owen's suicide prevention commission. He spoke about the depression rate in schools, post traumatic stress rates, the needs of students, and the lack of resources and personnel. He described his wishes for future presentations to the committee. He described Senator Kerr's efforts to change the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR) to free up funding and stated that TABOR is strangling the state when it needs resources. He discussed funding for schools and higher education.

11:30 AM -- Discussion of Future Meetings and Presentation Topics

Kerry White, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to discuss deadline requirements and conflicts with other legislative committees. She stated that the deadline for requesting draft legislation is October 2, and the deadline for voting on bills is November 2. Committee members discussed remote participation and scheduling of additional meetings. The committee decided to hold the remainder of its meetings on August 27, September 9, September 22, and October 27.

The committee members discussed the formation of subcommittees, as well as topics and groups for future presentations. Among the topics and presenters considered were:

Representative Duran stated her desire to hear what the state is not doing and have no presentations on what the state is doing.

12:08 PM

The meeting adjourned.