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Bullying Prevention Presentation in South Dakota

October 29, 2012 by

I had a great experience keynoting the Fifth Annual South Dakota Parent Engagement Conference in Rapid City, South Dakota this past Saturday.  I felt honored to be asked to be the keynote speaker for this awesome conference.  The keynote was focused on bullying prevention and related topics such as ways to improve school climate, techniques to enhance student supervision and cyberbullying.  The session also included information on evaluation of school security.

This is the third time I have keynoted a conference for the South Dakota Department of Education and they always put on a first-class conference with no logistical details left to chance.  The turnout of more than 130 parents and educators from all corners of the state on a Saturday was impressive, especially when the state’s population and distances travelled by attendees are considered.  This was the second time I have had good attendance on a Saturday in South Dakota in spite of the fact that one conference was held on the opening day of deer season and the other at the start of pheasant season – both are big events in the state.

I met many impressive advocates for the children during the event.   The information on student supervision, bullying of students with special needs and improving school climate were of great interest to the participants along with the information on recognition of indicators of bullying.

I have had the good fortune to keynote many conferences in South Dakota and have thoroughly enjoyed every visit to this beautiful state.  I once again found attendees to be eager to participate in the discussion and straightforward in their comments.  A great day was capped off when I bumped into Colonel Oliver North as I was going through security at the Rapid City Airport.  The Colonel who had just returned from a trip to Afghanistan and was probably still pretty tired, forgot to take off his dog tags and had to be patted down by TSA.  He was gracious to the TSA personnel and to other passengers who wanted to shake his hand.  I had an opportunity to chat with him for a minute and he was most cordial with me as well.

Personnel from two school districts and a tribal Christian school at the conference indicated they wanted me to present for them and I look forward to more visits to this beautiful region of the country where so many care deeply about student safety.   It was truly an honor to be able to visit with so many wonderful people in this great state and I cannot wait to make my next visit.

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Safe Havens International Releases new School Safety Training Video – Safe Topics – Planning for Disabilities and Other Special Needs During an Emergency

October 29, 2012 by

Safe Havens Video is proud to announce the release of a new learning resource.  The video – Safe Topics – Planning for Disabilities and Other Special Needs During an Emergency provides detailed and timely information to help schools more effectively plan to evacuate, shelter and otherwise protect students, staff and visitors with special needs during crisis situations.  The video also comes with an individual standardized preparedness plan which can be used to develop a comprehensive personal plan for each student and staff member requiring special assistance during emergency situations.

Developed by a team of school safety experts with international experience and a solid background in special needs safety and emergency preparedness, this video was filmed, edited and produced by our award-winning video crew.  Using the expertise they have developed filming in Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, the Netherlands, Vietnam and South Africa, our film crew has extensive experience making school safety training videos.

A custom version of this video has been highlighted by the United Stated Department of Education at several of its school emergency preparedness conferences, this invaluable and robust learning resource addresses one of the most challenging and critical topics in school crisis planning.

 

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Jane’s Chemical-Biological Defense Guidebook is still a Frightening but Informative Read

October 27, 2012 by

I first read the Jane’s Chemical-Biological Defense Guidebook in more than ten years ago while working on a book series for the renowned security, defense and intelligence publisher.  They gave copies of the then $2,000 book to each of us on the co-authoring team to give us a better idea of what they needed us to write in the Jane’s Safe School Planning Guide for All Hazards. 

The book details how a wide array of chemical and biological attacks have and can be carried out and the sometimes highly developed preparedness capabilities are needed to respond to such attacks properly.  The Jane’s editing process and team is exceedingly picky which is why their books are so highly regarded in military, intelligence, homeland security and public safety circles.  This book is definitely among the most detailed works ever published on these important topics.

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School Security is a Part of Excellence in Education

October 25, 2012 by

I went to pick my son up from his elementary school yesterday afternoon to take him to a medical appointment.  I was pleased to see that the staff member who is responsible for signing out students required me to hand her my driver’s license and checked my son’s name against his contact information and ran my information through a database of known sexual predators before having him brought to the office.  These simple steps take only seconds but dramatically increase the level of safety at the school.  Though security cameras can be very effective when utilized properly, properly trained and led staff can make a huge difference in school safety and security.

This school also happens to have been ranked within the top 100 elementary schools in the state for several years running.

As a parent as well as a school security expert, I am pleased to see these and other school security measures in place in my son’s rural community school.  Though abductions of students from schools are rare, they do occur with enough regularity to cause legitimate concern in any public or non-public school.

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Leading School Safety Experts Provide Free School Security Assessment Checklist

October 24, 2012 by

The diverse team of school safety experts at Safe Havens International have assisted our clients in conducting school security assessments for more than 2,000 public, private, parochial, independent and charter schools in the last few years and have helped many other schools over the past decade.  Our school crisis preparedness experts have developed a variety of school safety assessment tools to meet client needs for these projects including school crisis scenario videos, surveys and checklists.

Safe Havens offers a series of free school security assessment checklists on the free resources section of our website. Safe Havens will be adding hundreds of new free school safety resources this year in an effort to provide tools to help school officials and their community partners improve school safety, security, climate, culture and emergency preparedness.

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Business Continuity Planning for Schools

October 23, 2012 by

It is now generally recognized that Business Continuity Planning is a vital activity. However, the creation of (and maintenance of) a sound business continuity plan, is a complex undertaking, involving a series of critical steps. Prior to creation of the plan itself, it is essential to consider the potential impacts of disaster and to understand the underlying risk not only impacting physical infrastructure but information systems as well: these are the foundations upon which a sound business continuity plan should be built. The district must Identify, document, and implement to recover critical business functions and processes. Here are some planning tips:

  • Maintain off-site, current backups of critical data, vendor lists, employee, constituent and donor contact lists, and other mission-critical information. Backup security is vital.
  • Conduct an insurance review to ensure that insurance is adequate to cover all institutional needs. Keep insurance records with backup information.
  • Explore legal aspects of business continuity with the school board attorney, including discussions about essential personnel, liability, and other critical legal issues.
  • Plan for relocating students, faculty and staff ahead of time before disaster strikes. This process is known as family reunion planning.
  • Inventory everything that would cause the school to cease operations if destroyed.
  • Review all existing service agreements and whether they include adequate post-disaster service provisions and recovery assistance.
  • Review the financial impact of extended downtime.

 School business continuity planning is an important aspect of the operation of any school.

Dr. Sonayia Shepherd (Sony) is the Chief Operating Officer of Safe Havens International.  The author of 16 books on school safety and emergency management, Sony’s work has taken her to many countries including Switzerland, Thailand, Indonesia, Haiti, Guatemala, Angola, South Africa and India.
A popular keynote speaker, Dr. Shepherd has presented at numerous state, national and international professional conferences and many individual school districts across the nation.  Sony welcomes reader feedback and questions at sony@weakfish.org

 

 

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