VCC Magazine Summer 2018

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S ummer 2018 7 99 I am pleased that Governor Northam reiterated his commitment to this issue as a top priority of his Administration when he signed Executive Order 11, which reinstates the Virginia Children’s Cabinet and appoints Virginia’s First Lady, Pam Northam, as Chair of the Cabinet. As part of the Children’s Cabinet, I will be co-chairing a Student SafetyWork Group withAtif Qarni, our Secretary of Education. Over the next several months, the work group will be responsible for making comprehensive recommendations to the Governor that will support the safety of our students. The priority areas of focus will be: enhancing information sharing and the effectiveness of threat assessments teams; assessing the role, prevalence, and training of school resource and school security officers; evaluating existing ratios and staffing levels for school support staff; identifying opportunities to expand relevant training to a variety of school-based personnel; and consideration of other school-based programs or supports, including mental health supports, needed to secure the safety of all students. As we prepare for the 2018–2019 school year, it is important to recognize that our schools are indeed very safe, which is a testament to all of the professionals within our school communities who work tirelessly to educate and protect our youth. I look forward to working alongside Secretary Qarni and public safety, education, and mental health stakeholders to develop meaningful recommendations that will undoubtedly support their efforts and have a positive impact on student safety and school climate in the Commonwealth. Brian Moran, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Scary is right. Legislators are hearing that when it comes to active shooters, fear can outweigh the probability. Fifty million kids go to school every day. Of those, an average of 11 to 34 have been killed by homicide yearly between 1993 and 2015. These incidents are horrible, but why are our levels of fear so out of balance with the relatively low number of incidents? It is the specter of theUNKNOWN—the unknown killer, the unknown time and date of the event and the multitude of other UNKNOWNS... that scare us all. We can handle what we KNOW… it’s the unknowns that we are not prepared for. The killings are random. Think plane wrecks, the D.C. sniper, and those boys trapped in the cave. Prediction is difficult if not impossible, so schools have to be reasonably ready for anything. School Security experts including Mike Jones favor the All Hazards Approach to security—being ready for anything makes you ready for the “any” one thing. One of the challenges is how to do this without profiling kids who may just be different, how to intervene in real mental health needs, and how to talk about safety without traumatizing children further.Where does the Committee go from here? The public can keep up by following its website: https://schoolsafety. virginia.gov/ . Further subcommittee meetings will be announced, and all subcommittees have been asked to report recommendations to the full committee on September 11. Bonnie Atwood, a freelance writer with Tall Poppies Freelance Writing LLC, is the winner of 30 national and state writing awards, and represents legislative clients with David Bailey Associates. She can be reached at BonAtwood@verizon.net . All rights reserved by Bonnie Atwood. School and Student Safety from page 5 Speaker's School Safety Committee from page 5 our schools. This means investing in comprehensive student well-being, school safety policies and programs, building on the recent accreditation reforms to hold schools accountable for a wide variety of student outcomes, and fostering a strong educational leadership pipeline by addressing teacher compensation and inequities in teacher quality. We know that our students must be college and career-ready in order to advance and succeed in life, but it is also necessary to advance and reinforce Virginia’s economy. To that end, we plan to build meaningful pathways from classrooms to the workplace with an emphasis on four key sectors of the economy: Healthcare, Trades, Technology and Teaching. Teaming up with Dr. Megan Healy, Governor Northam’s Chief Workforce Development Advisor, we aim to identify, promote and incentivize innovative education and workforce development models throughout the Commonwealth. It is our hope that all Virginians will have access to affordable, efficient and effective educational pathways and that, upon completion, graduates are motivated to stay local. Lastly, we know that student success is supported through effective policies and practices in accessing and completing their higher education. It leads to more meaningful work and citizens who positively contribute to the Commonwealth. Increasing access to higher education and driving improved completion rates, especially for underrepresented Virginians, will address many of our most pressing challenges in higher education. We plan to explore options for low-cost, no-cost, or debt free community college. While I was not able to visit every division or touch down in every county, continuing the conversation with local schools and communities throughout the Commonwealth will be a necessary component of this work in the coming years. The Governor and I are committed to advancing excellent educational opportunities for all Virginians no matter who they are or where they are from. This is central to the work we do each day, and we believe that by pursuing each of the four goals, we can and will positively affect every single student in Virginia in the years ahead. Atif Qarni, Virginia Secretary of Education. V V V