• Mission Statement
• Safe School Conference

The Division of School Safety is dedicated to helping school districts and administrators develop comprehensive guidelines that will integrate all phases of violence prevention. As such, the Division of School Safety can help the school administrator in the following areas:

• SAFE SCHOOLS AUDIT - The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools is able to assist school districts with safe schools audits. These audits may include an assessment of facilities and grounds, access control, usage of surveillance equipment and deployment of security personnel. Furthermore, these audits may include a survey of the perception of students, staff, and parents regarding their perceptioin of school safety.
• CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLANNING - The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools is able to assist school districts with the development of their school safety/crisis management plans. These plans will generally include data from an audit, a review of information from past years regarding incidents that have occurred, provisions to address the most recent trends in school safety planning, and coordination and linkage with agencies that may respond to a crisis on school property.
• VIOLENCE PREVENTION TRAINING - The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools provides training and technical assistance to school districts in the areas of peer mediation, conflict resolution, safety awareness, intervention techniques, and legal trends. This training can be adapted to meet the needs of all staff as well as students and parents.
• SECURITY OFFICER TRAINING INSTITUTE - Through the Security Officer Training Institute, annual training is provided to security personnel, law enforcement officials who work on school campuses, violence prevention coordinators, building level administrators responsible for discipline, teachers, and counselors.
• SCHOOL SAFETY/CRISIS LINE - The Mississippi Department of Education in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety will make available a confidential school safety/crisis line. This line is designed to make available to students and staff an avenue to address safety concerns without fear of retaliation. This line will be available at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year.
• SPECIAL SAFE SCHOOLS TRAINING - There are a number of school safety issues that may be unique or specific to a district or a small group of districts. The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools will coordinate and in some cases develop specialized training modules to meet these needs. School districts should simply request the desired training.
• STATISTICAL MANAGEMENT - The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools serves as a repository of data on school violence. Data is maintained on issues that may be of assistance in the development of safe schools plans or in the preparation of grant applications.
• COORDINATION - The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools coordinates school safety and crisis management issues with other state and federal agencies. This insures that all available resources are utilized and that the most up-to-date practices are incorporated in the planning and implementation of the school safety initiative. Coordination is also maintained with other offices within the Department of Education.


SAFE SCHOOL CONFERENCE

The Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Safe and Orderly  Schools, is sponsoring a safe school conference. The conference will be held on July 19 - 20, 1999, at the Hilton Jackson Hotel, 1001 East County Line Road in Jackson, MS.

The conference is entitled "Schools Without Fear" and will focus on bullying. The conference is designed to be most beneficial to security personnel, law enforcement officials, violence prevention coordinators, building level administrators, social workers, mental health professionals, health professionals, human service workers, teachers, and counselors.

The issue of bullying will be discussed in a comprehensive manner. Several topics have been included for discussion. Topics include:

Legal Issues
Student-Based Initiatives
Family Issues in Bullying
Anti-Bullying Education Programs
Support Programs

The issue of bullying will be addressed by leading national, regional and local experts. The speakers will address bullying from a physical, psychological, and educational perspective. Strategies will be discussed to reduce acts of bullying on school property as well as relevent legal issues.

For information of registration and lodging information, contact Clarence Carter, Office of Safe and Orderly Schools, 359-1028, or fax your request to 359-3184.