Room: Catalina A1

School Safety: Sharing Real Tips for Site Administrators

With six open high schools, our team of site-level assistant principals and the district-level executive director will share successful practices that have served us well in creating and sustaining safe schools at high schools that do not have fences.  Topics we will address are: creating the feel of a safe school; involving students in school safety; actual school threats- social media, note a left on the Principal’s door, comments made by students; managing parent concerns and expectations for timely communication; managing staff members’ concerns; student fights send a message; availability of drugs at school; and the importance of a positive approach to school safety.

 

Presenters – Dr. Jennifer Williams, Executive Director Administrative Services; – Jackie Barry, Assistant Principal Sonora High School; –  Matt Eeles, Assistant Principal La Habra High School; – Renee Gates, Assistant Principal Troy High School; – Madeline Grande, Assistant Principal Buena Park High School; –  Caroline Llewellyn, Assistant Principal Troy High School; – Sarah Murrieta, Assistant Principal Sunny Hills High School and –  Betty Vutang, Assistant Principal La Habra High School – Fullerton Joint Union High School District

 

Room: Catalina A2

Lethal Weapons – Is Arming Teachers the Right Response?

Columbine, Sandy Hook, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas – names forever seared in our minds for the horrific tragedies they represent. These senseless and grievous atrocities leave us wondering how we can protect students and staff, and help keep our schools safe. In this session, we will engage these intractable, crucial questions as we consider the feasibility and appropriateness of arming school staff.

Allowing school staff to carry weapons is a concept that is experiencing renewed national debate following this February’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. But would this really be a good solution for fostering a safe school environment?

This session will consider legal and practical implications of this proposed response to school violence. What exactly, is a school’s legal duty to protect students from violence? Is the arming of teachers and staff even a feasible option that should be considered? If so, what training would be required? What would happen if a teacher acted inappropriately? What potential liability would be in play?

Presenter –  Lauri Arrowsmith – Attorney, Best Best & Krieger, LLP

 

Room: Catalina A3

Human Trafficking and Red Flag Identifiers for School Settings

Human Trafficking is an epidemic plaguing the youth of our schools.  This course will help give School Resource Officers and Educators a valuable understanding of what is defined as Human Trafficking, how to identify it, and how to help.

Presenter – Investigator Jeff Jensen – Orange County Sheriff’s Department and – Deputy Christina Strunk – Orange County Sheriff’s Department

 

Room: Catalina C1

What is your Student Leadership Program Doing to Build a Safe School Environment?

Most schools across California are funding a student leadership class on campus. How can student leadership classes effectively help build a safe school climate? In this session, participants will learn the value of Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) as a Safe School program model to effectively increase student engagement and build a safe school climate. Recent research on student leadership classes utilizing YPAR as their program model revealed significant evidence that attendance and academic rates each increased when students engaged in YPAR activities.

What is YPAR? Simply put, “Stop doing the research on the kids and let the kids do the research on themselves!” Come learn how schools across California are empowering their youth leadership classes with the tools to successfully engage in YPAR activities. By utilizing online survey development and student led focus groups to gather Quantitative and Qualitative data, safe school administrators are finding an ongoing source of information to effectively implement their School Safety and Local Control Accountability Plans.

Presenter – John Vandenburgh – PCE Solutions

 

Room: Catalina C2

Ready. Set. Go!  Prevention Programming for Your Community

Learn about the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) free prevention education resources to build your school’s capacity to help protect students in your community.  NetSmartz is designed to teach families and children, ages 5-17, about online safety and digital citizenship. Its age-appropriate videos, games, presentations, and classroom lessons can serve as the backbone to your community programming to help protect children in their online activities.  KidSmartz is a personal safety program that educates families and students in grades K-5 about preventing abduction and empowers kids to practice safer behaviors. Join us as share the ready-to-use presentations and educational tools available to help your organization teach the four basic rules of safety while empowering children and engaging families.

Presenter – Tina Bigdeli, Outreach Manager

 

Room: Catalina C3

Understanding and Preventing School Violence

Why would a student bring a weapon to school and without any explicable reason open fire on fellow students and teachers? Are school shooters angry? Are they crazy? Is their motive revenge? Hatred for the victims? A hunger for attention?

• Explain what a threat assessment is and is not.
• What the observable signs an individual is on a path to violence.
• What happens after a student is identified as a person of concern.
• How social media and video games play a part in the path to violence.
• Dispel the myths of predatory violence.
• How to monitor your child’s online activity.
• What schools can and should do to prevent violence.
• How parents and their students can help prevent violence.
• Answer your questions about internet and school safety.

Presenter – Sergeant Clayton Cranford – Orange County Sheriff’s Department

 

Room: Avalon 2

A Shared Leadership Perspective on Building Safe and Successful Schools

“Efforts to strengthen school climate, academic achievement, and safety are not mutually exclusive.  In this presentation, a comprehensive shared leadership framework for developing safe and successful schools will be unveiled.  Highlights will include cultivating shared leadership practices and implementing ‘high-impact’ strategies throughout your school and district to achieve transformational change in your school climate.”

Presenters –  Michael R. McCormick – Superintendent, Val Verde Unified School District and Jeff Jones – Professor, Sheridan College

 

Room: Avalon 3

School Safety – After the Bell

70% of students nationally are involved in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities that take place after the end of the school day.  This breakout session will focus on “what to do” when emergency events take place after the school day has ended when seconds become life and death for those involved.  Participants will have received “Action Plans” specifically designed for “after the bell” with simple, proven, step by step implementation.  Does your school have an “after the bell” emergency plan?

Presenters – Roger Blake – Executive Director, California Interscholastic Federation and Brian Seymour – Senior Director, California Interscholastic Federation

 

Room: Anacapa

Understanding Root Causes of Gang Members & Integrating Restorative Practices Interventions

This workshop will provide valuable insight for service providers to better understand root causes that contribute to gang membership.  Participants will gain tools and strategies to implementing Restorative Practices while working with students and families impacted by gangs, incarceration and violence.  Focus will center on healing, restoration and use of the arts to build community and relationships in the classroom and Institutions.

Presenters – Steven Kim – MSW – Co-Founder, Project Kinship and –  Mary Vu – LCSW, Co-Founder, Project Kinship