On June 1, 2001, I will assume my new duties as Director of the Missouri Center for Safe Schools. The past couple of months, I have attended Safety Coordinator training, the Showcase Schools Conference, a District Safety Review, the Statewide Advisory Board Meeting and several other meetings. I have a great deal of appreciation for what the Center has accomplished over the past few years and I want to commend Dr. Russ Thompson, Associate Director, and Susan Anderson, Legal Counsel for the Center, for their efforts and dedication. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Jerry Cooper for his leadership as interim director during the transition period and the professional manner in which he conducted the directorship search.

I look forward to the challenges and opportunities and will continue to strive to meet the expectations of the past directors and the school districts of the State of Missouri. As a former superintendent and principal, I can appreciate the uniqueness of each school district and the vast differences each district is faced with in regards to student safety and facilities.

One of the areas I would like to focus on is how the Center can distribute school safety information more efficiently and to a greater number of schools. Over the past couple of months, with the efforts of the Center and collaboration with the Regional Professional Development Centers (RPDC), approximately 350 of the 524 school districts in the state have had a District Safety Coordinator trained. This is a wonderful example of how school safety information can be delivered statewide in an efficient manner to benefit all school districts and students in the State of Missouri.

As the school year winds down, I wish each of you a safe and successful graduation and closing of the school year. May you have a relaxing summer.

Glenn Berry

And the good news is, in the last five years the Safe Schools grants have made tremendous changes, changes for the good of Missouri’s school districts and the lives of numerous students.

Do you remember when the General Assembly appropriated funds for grants in 1996? Did your district participate in the focus group that helped the Department design a grant program to provide instruction to students who are violent, abusive or chronically disruptive? Did you think that you’d ever see the day when "those" kids would receive the support and education that would not only keep them in school, but that would help them find success in learning?

Well, in my humble opinion, YOU made the program the success that it is today. By the most current statistics, nearly 700 grants have been implemented to serve from 163-260 districts (depending on the year). A total of nearly $45 million has been directed at programs that range from character education, to staff development, to stand-alone alternative schools. In a few cases, the programs floundered due to lack of planning or no long-term funding commitment. However, in nearly all districts, classrooms are calmer when disruptive students are educated in a separate program or peer-mediation and anger management programs help students deal with behavioral issues. Last year, 473 students graduated from alternative programs that allowed them to stay in school, recover credits and get the help they needed.

So, as we near the end of another school year, pat yourself on the back! Thank you for helping make Missouri schools safe and educating our children.

P.S. The first-year applications for Safe School grants are due on June 15!

Rusty Rosenkoetter, Director, Special State Instructional Programs, DESE

With the increased variety of threats to schools, it is becoming necessary for districts to have trained individuals that can assist in case of a catastrophe. As the Safety Coordinator for Warsaw R-IX and a member of the local volunteer fire department, I have had the privilege of participating in the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) training programs on emergency response, including: Hazardous Materials, Multi-hazard Safety Program for Schools, Emergency Response to Terrorism, and Incident Command.

New requirements have been added to the Missouri Safe Schools Act, including mandatory violence prevention training for school safety coordinators. In my opinion, manmade and natural disasters should be acknowledged as viable threats as well. Schools should be required to have trained personnel that can deal with these threats. Through my participation in SEMA training, I gained valuable knowledge on emergency response and the role of other agencies during a disaster. I gained an understanding of how to assist law enforcement, fire department, and state disaster teams as they respond to our school emergencies.

In particular, I recommend SEMA's "Multi-hazard Safety Program for Schools" course. School districts should send safety coordinators, administrators, custodial staff, and other district employees to this training on a variety of emergencies, including: hazardous chemical spill, terrorist act, and natural disaster.

Through SEMA training I have developed a better understanding of the range of threats that our schools should be prepared to respond to. Our skies and highways are full of potential disasters that usually do not materialize, but if they do, I think we owe it to our community and to our children to be as knowledgeable and prepared as possible.

Bill Gant, Warsaw R-IX

The 2000 amendments to the Missouri Safe Schools Act included the creation of two crimes: Making a Terroristic Threat (574.115 RSMo.) and Trespass of a School Bus (569.115 RSMo.). The full text of these statutes (and all Missouri statutes) can be accessed at: www.moga.state.mo.us/homestat.htm.

A person commits the crime of making a terroristic threat if he communicates a threat to commit a felony, makes a knowingly false report concerning the commission of a felony, or makes a knowingly false report concerning the occurrence of any catastrophe: (1) for the purpose of frightening or disturbing 10 or more people (class C felony); (2) for the purpose of causing the evacuation or closure of any building, inhabitable structure, place of assembly, or transportation facility (class C felony); (3) with reckless disregard of causing the evacuation or closure of any building, inhabitable structure, place of assembly, or transportation facility (class D felony). Threat means an express or implied threat but does not include a good faith report to prevent harm. (574.115 RSMo. 2000). Catastrophe is defined as death or serious physical injury to 10 or more people, substantial damage to 5 or more buildings, or substantial damage to a vital public facility which serious impairs its usefulness or operation. (569.070 RSMo. 2000).

A person commits the crime of trespass of a school bus if he knowingly and unlawfully enters any part of the bus or unlawfully operates the bus. (Class A misdemeanor). Unlawfully enters and unlawfully operates refers to the entry or operation of a school bus which is not approved of and established in the district's written policy on school bus access or authorized by specific written approval of the school board. (569.155 RSMo. 2000). This statute appears to require that a written policy regarding school bus access must be promulgated before an individual can be charged with this crime. The statute also provides that any district which adopts school bus access policies must establish and enforce a student behavior policy for school buses.

Visit the Missouri Center for Safe Schools web site at www.umkc.edu/safe-school for an overview of the Missouri Safe Schools Act, including the 2000 amendments.

The Missouri Center for Safe Schools, in cooperation with the Special State Instructional Programs, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, will conduct a symposium on school safety at the Lenoir Center in Columbia on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The symposium will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. The morning sessions will be oriented on funding alternative education, getting parent involvement, and intervening effectively with reading problems. The afternoon sessions will be facilitated network meetings for elementary, middle, and high school alternative education interventions.

Registration will be through the Missouri Center for Safe Schools. The registration fee will be $15 per attendee. Lunch will be provided.

The last chance for safety coordinator training this school year is in St. Louis on May 9. The three hour class will begin at noon and end at 3:00 p.m. The training will take place in the Executive Conference Room of Parkway North High School, 12860 Fee Fee Rd., St. Louis County. There is a $20.00 registration fee. Registration is being handled by Sandra Blanco at the St. Louis Regional Professional Development Center, (800) 835-8282 or (314) 692-9715.

The first year of district safety coordinator training was very successful. 332 have attended the safety coordinator training thus far. Topics addressed were the role of the safety coordinator, the changes to the Missouri Safe Schools Act, third-cycle MSIP, the Missouri Violence Prevention Curriculum Framework, the "School Safety Review Checklist," and crisis planning.

We will provide some form of safety coordinator training each year. The training will incorporate a 3 hour orientation for new safety coordinators as well as an additional half-day session for a more in-depth look at some timely topics (table-top crisis exercise, tools and forms that Safety Coordinators can adapt, third-cycle MSIP feedback, revenue sources). Please let us know what we can do to best serve your needs.

The Association of Missouri Mediators offers honorary membership (no cost) for elementary and secondary students serving as peer mediators. General membership fees for this organization, which promotes proficiency in mediation skills and supports education on the benefits of mediation, are $35 per year. Go to their web site, www.mediate.com/amm, for more information.

The National Playground Safety Institute will be conducted in Jefferson City on November 14-16, 2001. Classes are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the 14^th and 15^th. Class begins at 8:00

a.m. on November 16^th and the two-hour certification exam is over by 11:00 a.m. that day. Registration fee is $300 if registering prior to October 10. For more information or a copy of the registration form contact the Missouri Parks and Recreation Association at (573) 636-3828.