CENTEGIX | Education
Wisconsin School Safety Standards
CENTEGIX | Education
Wisconsin School Safety Standards
Wisconsin School Safety Solutions Aim to Protect Students
Schools should be safe places for young people to learn and grow, and the vast majority of them are. However, violent events across the nation make it clear that Wisconsin school alert systems are necessary precautions to protect students and staff in the event of a worst-case scenario.
The Wisconsin Office of School Safety was established in 2017 as part of the state’s Department of Justice. At the same time, the state allocated $100 million for Wisconsin school safety solutions at 1,306 campuses. Since 2018, the money has provided:
- training for more than 11,000 educators
- training staff in trauma-informed care and Adverse Childhood Experiences
- providing new security systems and security cameras
- rebuilding school building entrances
- Establishing the Speak Up, Speak Out Resource Center, a confidential threat-reporting tip line
It was a strong start, but school safety cannot be treated as a “one-and-done” proposition. It needs to be a committed approach to finding and installing effective strategies. In 2021, the DOJ provided another $92 million for safety enhancements, threat assessment training, and mental health training for Wisconsin’s public, private, charter, and tribal schools.
Framework for Wisconsin School Safety Solutions
School safety requires a multi-pronged approach that addresses the issue in a variety of ways. Wisconsin’s Comprehensive School Security Framework was designed to help local school systems “prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from violence.”
It offers a range of Wisconsin school safety solutions designed to deal with violence through:
- climate and culture
- students engagement
- school policies
- physical structures
School violence might be a nationwide problem, but when it happens at a school, it’s a local problem. That makes it a local responsibility for:
- school boards or governing councils
- school administrators
- staff
- teachers
- students
Speak Up, Speak Out Resource Center
The Speak Up, Speak Out Resource Center provides a way for students, teachers, and others to report suspicious behavior to a confidential tip line. In a crisis situation, call 911. However, concerns can be reported by calling 1-800-697-8761 or visiting speakup.widoj.gov.
Speak Up, Speak Out training and promotional packets are available. They include age-appropriate lessons for elementary, middle, and high school students. To learn more, click here.
Training Programs
Wisconsin school safety solutions include a variety of training programs:
- Foundations of Targeted Violence Prevention
- Best Practice Recommendations for School Behavior Assessment and Management Teams
- Comprehensive School Safety: Standard Response Protocol and Standard Reunification Method
- Critical Incident Response Training
- Behavioral Threat Assessments and Management Training
The Wisconsin School Threat Assessment is a three-phase plan to deal with potentially violent situations in systematic ways. It’s geared toward protecting the innocent while also giving troubled young people the help, guidance, and treatment they might need.
Each school must have an emergency operations plan to protect people and property. Schools need to make sure the plan is up-to-date, and leaders should develop and maintain good working relationships with local law enforcement and first responders.
In addition, training and communication are key to emergency preparedness:
- Are safety plans distributed appropriately?
- Is the plan easy to understand and user-friendly?
- Are PA systems and hand-held radios in working order?
- Are multiple response options included? Run-Hide-Fight? Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate (ALICE)? Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE)?
- Has everyone received the training they need?
Building Security
Building security is important to preventing violence. The first line of defense is visitor management. Access should be restricted to a single point of entry, and staff members should make sure appropriate doors are locked throughout the day.
As part of a building audit, each school should perform:
- interior assessments—classrooms, halls, offices, utility areas, gymnasiums, and other locations
- exterior assessments—playgrounds, athletic facilities or fields, and any property that is regularly occupied by pupils
Violence Drills
Violence drills are another necessity of the modern age. Lockdown, lockout, and other procedures should be practiced so students have a clear understanding of how they should respond in the face of a crisis.
Wisconsin school safety solutions require that school officials take time to assess how each drill went and consider ways to improve performance.
After a crisis, school officials are responsible for reuniting students with their parents or guardians. This applies to violent situations as well as fires, floods, tornadoes, bomb threats, and others.
Ready for Next Steps?
Wisconsin recognizes the potential threat and is taking action to prevent, mitigate, and respond to violence. School safety is an ongoing process that requires a commitment from the entire community to find and implement proven solutions.
Grants and Funding
The Wisconsin DOJ has grants available to help schools increase safety for students and school personnel:
- Applications will be accepted for the digital mapping of school buildings until June 30, 2024. It’s open to K-12 schools, and funds “must be used for site-specific critical incident mapping data to enhance security and increase situational awareness for first responders.”
- Applications for School Safety Initiative—Critical Incident Stabilization Funds must be submitted through Egrants. A total of $2 million is available to assist “support staff and students who experience unusually traumatic school-related events.”
For grant guides, FAQs, and other resources, click here.
How Are Your Resources Being Spent?
CENTEGIX protects over 11,500 schools across the country. We can protect your school, too.
The CENTEGIX Safety Platform™, featuring CrisisAlert™, accelerates your response to emergencies. We’ve built the CENTEGIX Safety Platform to support you in the single most critical factor of incident response: time. Because in an emergency, every second matters.
Discover federal resources to fund new safety and security initiatives in your district by exploring federal funding resources for school safety.
Championing Safe Schools with Educators and Educator Associations
CENTEGIX | White Paper
The Impact of Safety on the Mental Health and Well-being of Staff and Students in K-12 Schools
When safety leads, success follows.
Hear from Our Educators
We engage with teachers and staff every day to understand how CrisisAlert supports them, and here’s what they’ve shared:
A student was having trouble breathing and her vision was beginning to black out. We don’t have service in our building and it can be difficult to get ahold of the office staff, so having something to immediately alert them of emergency was incredibly helpful in a very scary situation.
I had a student who was refusing to follow directions and became very defiant. This student was beginning to get aggressive. I used my badge to alert our campus security monitor to remove the student from the situation. It is a very useful tool when the response was as immediate as it was.
A student was having a severe panic attack, trouble speaking, crying, not able to answer my questions as to what was wrong with her. I used the device to call for administrative help and it worked like it was designed to. Help arrived in a matter of seconds. I saw firsthand how well it works.
The Safety Platform™ Meets Grant-Funded Safety Measures
The CENTEGIX Safety Platform is an emergency incident response safety system that features wearable panic buttons, digital mapping software, and reunification and visitor management capabilities and generates accurate, usable data. The Safety Platform solution uses visual strobes, digital messages, and automated intercom announcements to inform everyone of a campus-wide incident and to instruct them on actions they should take. The Safety Platform meets the security infrastructure needs the Wisconsin school safety grants aim to address.
The Safety Platform features an analytics dashboard that assists administrators as they make safety and security decisions. A data set is generated when a staff member uses their wearable badge to request assistance. Administrators can better understand where and why and under what conditions. These administrative decisions, enabled by Platform data, contribute to the “positive and safe climate” that the safety grants aim to foster.
The CENTEGIX school safety platform provides robust and uninterrupted communication between staff members, administrators, first responders, and students. Unlike other emergency incident response systems, the Safety Platform’s technology precludes adoption and connectivity challenges. It runs on a dedicated IoT network; it’s not susceptible to Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity interruptions. And because the CrisisAlert mobile panic button is worn along with an ID badge, 100% of staff members use it. This high adoption rate means that every staff member at every location on campus can request help when they need it. CrisisAlert generates accurate location data for every alert, no matter where on campus. Therefore first responders know exactly where to go during an emergency. In many instances, this kind of rapid response can prevent tragedy.
These critical features of the CrisisAlert badge and Safety Blueprint from CENTEGIX ensure an immediate response:
Desktop takeover notifications for staff mean campus-wide alerts are never missed.
Location accuracy enables rapid response.
The system immediately connects the parties best prepared to handle the situation.
Wi-Fi and phone outages have no effect on the system.
Wearable security badges are easily accessible, lightweight, and wearable.
CENTEGIX Safety Platform can help school districts and LEAs enact these measures, making students and staff safer. The Safety platform school safety solution helps create a climate of safety by enabling staff members to request help immediately, from anywhere on campus, in any type of emergency. Under these conditions, teachers can focus on student needs, and students can focus on learning.
CENTEGIX is the leader in incident response solutions. Our Safety Platform is the fastest and easiest way for staff to request help in an emergency, from the everyday to the extreme. CENTEGIX innovates technology to empower and protect people, and leaders nationwide trust our safety solutions to provide peace of mind.
Discover the Safety Platform
Safety solutions that prioritize speed for the best outcome.
Mapping and locating capabilities provide the precise location—of emergencies, visitors, and safety assets.
A visitor management system screens and locates visitors on your campus.
Protocol development to plan for rapid incident response.
CENTEGIX CrisisAlert vs. Mobile Apps
CrisisAlert eliminates vulnerabilities related to app-only solutions and enables rapid incident response to all emergencies.
In an Emergency, You Need CrisisAlert™
Adverse situations can happen at any moment—from everyday crises such as medical emergencies, severe weather, and physical altercations to extreme situations that threaten your entire campus. The faster you get help to the right location, the better the outcome.
See how our CrisisAlert wearable mobile panic button empowers staff to get help instantly in an emergency.
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