Virginia Capitol Connections Winter 2019

Enhancing Student and School Safety in Virginia By Brian J. Moran, Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Atif Qarni, Secretary of Education

Virginia Capitol Connections welcomes Letters to the Editor. Please keep them brief and send to: bonatwood@ capitolsquare.com. Due to space considerations, VCC does not promise to publish each one. Only you know how much time and effort you have put into this publication over the decades. However, I know that it is enjoyed by many throughout our Commonwealth. David G. Brickley Woodbridge, Virginia As the time of Thanksgiving is upon us, I wanted to personally thank you for continuing to publish Virginia Capitol Connections over these many, many years. I can vividly remember your support as several of us championed the legislative issue of Elected School Boards in the General Assembly. After I left the legislative and executive branches of state government, I continued to look forward to the next issue of the Capitol Connections . That same feeling of joy continues to this day. Since the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, the issue of school safety has received significant public attention. In the months following, many state and local governments, and the federal government, have engaged in thorough reviews of school and student safety practices in order to identify innovative and effective strategies to enhance the safety and well-being of our children. While Virginia has long established itself as a national leader on school safety due to strong legislative mandates and investments in education and training, Governor Northam recognizes the need to build upon our foundation so that our schools remain safe learning environments for our children. That is why Governor Northam signed Executive Order 11 on June 21, 2018, which reestablished the Children’s Cabinet and directed us to co-chair a Work Group on Student Safety. The Work Group on Student Safety convened a diverse, interdisciplinary group of stakeholders and subject matter experts and met three times. At our meetings, work group members heard numerous presentations from experts, engaged in facilitated discussion, and developed 20 recommendations that were submitted to Governor Northam on October 1, 2018. Recommendations addressed: the role, prevalence, and training of school resource and school security officers; existing ratios and staffing levels for school support staff; training for a variety of school-based personnel; suicide awareness and prevention; and physical security measures. We are thrilled to share that Governor Northam recently announced a $39.3 million investment in his budget to support a number of the recommendations of the work group. Keeping our students safe is not as simple as focusing just on physical security.We must take a holistic approach that promotes positive school climates and cultural competence. As a physician, Governor Northam also understands that we need to promote trauma-informed approaches and increased supports for students. Our school counselors play a critical role in achieving this goal. Our work group consistently highlighted the role these professionals play in fostering strong relationships, creating a positive school climate and engaging with our students to ensure they are on a Letters to the Editor Editor:

path to success. Recognizing that there is a need for additional school counselors, Governor Northam has included $36 million in his budget as part of a multi- year plan to fund additional positions in our school divisions. This is an ongoing commitment to help our school divisions achieve the recommended 1:250 ratios of school counselors to students, because our students need our ongoing support. Maintaining school and student safety

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also requires that we equip our school- based professionals with the training and resources they need. Accordingly, Governor Northam included $3.3 million in his budget to fund critical positions for the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety at the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services; create and offer additional training for school, and public safety professionals; expand access to training for school resource and security officers; fund the annual school climate survey; and provide additional age-appropriate active shooter preparation trainings throughout the Commonwealth. Since its creation 20 years ago, the Center has been responsible for developing and administering training for school and public safety professionals. It also has been a source of technical assistance for local school divisions. This investment will enable the Center to create online training modules for hard-to-reach school-based personnel on important school and student safety topics, including threat assessment teams. Threat assessment teams are multi-disciplinary teams of professionals comprised of individuals with expertise in counseling, instruction, school administration and law enforcement. These teams allow schools to intervene before a tragedy occurs by creating a mechanism to identify individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others and connecting them with the support and services they need. In addition to expanding access to training, Governor Northam’s budget will also support the development of a threat assessment case management tool, which is intended to create consistent tracking and reporting of threat assessment data. The data collected through the annual school climate survey provide leadership in every school, as well as in the highest levels of state government, with an understanding of the issues facing our schools and students. The survey has historically been grant- funded, and all grants have expired. We believe in making data- driven decisions and investments, and these survey results will continue to help us determine how to direct limited resources. Virginia’s schools are indeed safe learning environments for our students. However, this investment will expand access to important resources and provide our hardworking school, mental health, and public safety professionals with additional tools and resources they need to do their jobs. We want to thank Governor Northam for his commitment and dedication to supporting our youth, and we are confident that these proposals will be met with bipartisan support from the legislature. The Honorable Brian Moran assists the Governor in the development and implementation of public safety and homeland security policies. Atif Mustafa Qarni is an American teacher and Democratic politician who was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to be Virginia Secretary of Education. Qarni

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