Sergeant Mike Grissom of the Washington Police Department has received certification as a School Safety Specialist. Grissom participated in the recent School Safety Academy sponsored by Missouri School Boards’ Association’s Center for Education Safety. The event was held in August in Jefferson City and was designed to train and certify school safety coordinators. Attending the 20-hour academy certified Grissom as a School Safety Specialist.
School safety personnel from 45 school districts throughout Missouri attended the academy at no cost to school districts.
Grissom has been in law enforcement for 14 years and has been with the Washington Police Department for 13 years.
“It’s essential that students, teachers and staff are in a safe learning environment,” said Amy Roderick, Center for Education Safety Director. “Schools must have processes and protocols in place and then have their staff trained to implement the practices and policies to ensure our students feel safe at school so they can focus on learning.”
Missouri State law (160.660 RSMo.) requires each district to identify a School Safety Coordinator. However, the law is silent on the requirements for or certification of these critically important professionals. Seeing this gap, CES created the School Safety Academy.
The academy provides a high-level look at topics including:
*Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
*Emergency Operations Plans and Planning
*Legal Aspects for Schools
*Human Trafficking
*Cyberbullying
*Cybersecurity
*Missouri’s Courage2Report Anonymous Tipline
*The Role of School Resource Officers and the Schools They Serve
*Trauma-Informed and Mental Health Resources
*General Aspects of Behavioral Risk Assessment
*Suicide Prevention
*Site and Safety Assessments
All School Safety Specialists have pledged to follow up with a minimum of eight hours of continuing education training each year to continue to improve their knowledge of school safety.
The CES School Safety Academy includes the basic training needed to certify school safety coordinators with plans to expand to more advanced training and certification as the program builds over the coming years.
School Safety Specialist
Sergeant Mike Grissom of the Washington Police Department has received certification as a School Safety Specialist. Grissom participated in the recent School Safety Academy sponsored by Missouri School Boards’ Association’s Center for Education Safety.