JANESVILLE, Wis. — School leaders joined Attorney General Josh Kaul to speak out Thursday, as funding for the Office of School Safety hangs in the balance.
Attorney General Josh Kaul is calling for more funding for the Office of School Safety. Funding runs through 2024. Legislation that could continue funding for part of 2025 is in the works.
Roz Craney was one of the educators in attendance. He’s the principal at Yahara Elementary in DeForest, Wis., and recently became the safety coordinator for the DeForest Area School District.
He said when he took over the new role a year and a half ago, he realized the district wasn’t compliant with state safety regulations.
“I needed the Office of School Safety to help us gain knowledge, to build plans to be proactive and have the reactive plans in place to be ready to provide that safe environment for everyone within our district,” Craney said.
Since that time, Craney said he’s utilized many of the office’s resources such as the Behavior Threat Analysis Training. He’s also relied on guidance with their response and reunification plan in case of a crisis.
“We’re able to bring my staff along to training opportunities that the Office of School Safety has provided us during the summer, and during the school year, along with my local law enforcement partners, has really been beneficial,” he said.
Shannon Anderson, the director of student services for the Oregon School District, said the work the office does is essential.
“I can think of a time where we had a student that we were concerned about, and I knew that I could call them and have someone I could talk through the process with and what we were seeing and what might be some things we could consider that we hadn’t been able to consider before,” she said.
Anderson cited the Speak Up Speak Out hotline as a hugely beneficial tool for her district to field student safety concerns. She said it’s been a game changer.
“We have completely changed how we respond, our proactive nature and how we support kids,” Anderson said. “It’s completely different than it was a couple years ago.”
Craney said he couldn’t imagine doing his job without the support of the Office of School Safety.
“To have that latest research has been able to not only have an impact on the work that I do, but now raise to that level of administrators, staff within our district, teaching staff within our district, students and families, [and] has really transformed our district to where safety now is something that everyone has a role in and not just one person or one position,” he said.
