Texas School Safety Summit "Charts Course for School Safety"

AUSTIN — The Fourth Annual Texas School Safety Summit will be held March 2-5 at the Austin Hilton Airport Hotel. Sponsored by the Texas School Safety Center at Southwest Texas State University, the Safety Summit furthers the Center’s work of providing training and technical assistance statewide to reduce youth violence and promote safety.

“Charting the Course for School Safety” is expected to attract more than 500 educators, law enforcement officers and dignitaries from Texas and six other states, including Iowa and Wisconsin. Participants will choose from four programming tracks: education, law enforcement, promising youth programs and national issues. Topics range from terrorism, crisis management for schools and bullying to anger management and gender respect.

“Since 1999, the demand for training throughout Texas has increased more than 500 percent with more than 16,000 educators receiving direct training during the 2001-2002 school year,” said Judy Renick, Director of the Texas School Safety Center.

Established in May 1999 through the Governor’s Office, Criminal Justice Division, the Texas School Safety Center serves as an ongoing interdisciplinary resource. The Center is housed in the Center for Initiatives in Education in the College of Education at SWT. The Center’s services are based on information derived from a needs assessment sent to all Texas school districts.

It is estimated that 20,000-plus educators, parents, students and law enforcement agents will be directly trained by the Center during the 2002-2003 school year. In addition, the Center has provided every school district in Texas (more than 1200) with a video, manual and CD-ROM to assist them in writing district or campus security plans. The web site at www.txssc.txstate.edu contains more information about the Center and its activities.

For more information, please contact the Jayme Blaschke at SWT Media Relations and Publications at (512) 245-2180 or Judy Renick, Director, Texas School Safety Center at (512) 245-3696.