The information may not be correct. Parents want to know two things, is my child okay . And when can i pick my child up . As we go through this, about, talking about safe schools, ive talked to only about School Shootings, but were talking about all issues that could happen at a school, tornadoes, earthquakes, any disaster affects kids, affects those students and effect affects thoe parents. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Bond. Chairman kline, Ranking Member miller, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on behalf of the National Association of School Resource officers. Its my honor to serve as executive director of this Outstanding Group of Law Enforcement and education professionals. Nasro is a notforprofit association founded in 1991 with a solid commitment to our nations youth. Nasro is comprised of schoolbased Law Enforcement officers, School Administrators and Security Professionals working as partners to protect students, faculty and staff and the school community. The School Resource officer refers i cannot emphasize enough how critical it is for officers to be properly selected and properly trained to function in the School Environment. This is always a factor in the success or failure of the sro program. Sro programs are most effective when theyre built with collaboration. You should always be a formal memorandum of understanding between Law Enforcement agency and the School District. The role of the as thoreau should be based on the triad concept of schoolbased police and. This encompasses the strategies of Law Enforcement, former counseling and education. A typical day for an sro may include traffic direction, problem solving with a student, or making a presentation on distracted driving to the classroom of high school students. Relationship building is certainly an important factor in the success of an sro program. The sro must build working relationships with school of ministrations. One way of helping to build these relationships can be through the sros role with a School Safety can. Can. Properly trained sros prepare to be a member of safety teams and can also take a leadership role in helping to develop teams where none exist. I spent no half of my Law Enforcement career in schoolbased policing. It was without a doubt the most rewarding period of my career. It was more than just a job. It became my lifes work. I develop positive relationships with administrators, faculty members, students and parents. I became integral part of the hoover city schools district crisis team. By being a part of the School Safety team, vso becomes fully engaged and pricing plan to include prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Sros can provide value to the written plans for a School District. They can also they can also assist with campus site assessments as was conducting safety drills. The aspect of recovery was one that ive not given a great deal of thought to drink the early phase of my career in schoolbased Law Enforcement. It was not until the days following november 19, 2002, that it became clear to me the importance of the role that it sro can play in the recovery portion of the Critical Incident. Didnt think about that happen at our largest high school. One student had taken the life of another in the hallway during the change of class periods. This resulted in very large crime scene that took some time to secure. The students had to remain in a modified lockdown for several hours. We all knew this was putting quite a burden on teachers in particular. However, they did exactly what theyre supposed to do as they have been trained. The principal asked me to join in a faculty meeting after the students were released. I took the opportunity to praise the staff for the good work. One of the reasons faculty members were so well prepared for an incident such as this was due to the schools commitment to maintaining a solid School Safety team. I believe this faculty meeting was the beginning of the recovering process. Plans were developed for the next day. We thought our most important job would be to keep this are happening again. To keep weapons out of school, to make sure that no retaliation occurred. While all of those things were important, it paled in comparison to the need of the student body to be comforted and reassured. The need for trusted and caring adults became the more important issue in this recovery process. The School Resource officers were certainly still focus on security but were most heavily engaged in the mental and emotional recovery process. The reason for this is because we are much more than just a Law Enforcement presence. We were trusted adults and we helped to make a difference in the lives of children during the days prior to and most definitely following november 19, 2002. Trained and committed police poe officers are wellsuited to effectively protect and serve the school community. School resource officers contributed by ensuring a safe and secure campus, educating students about log related topics and mentoring students as informal counselors and role models. Over the last 23 years, the National Association of School Resource officers has become the world leader in schoolbased policing. We have trained thousands of officers based on the triad model of schoolbased policing and these officers are having a positive impact on the lives of children every day. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Pompei, youre recognized for five minutes. My name is vincent pompei, im a School Counselor in southern california. I started out as a middle School Teacher and became a School Counselor, making schools safer every student at my store is the story millions of students across america. By fifth grade, ive been targeted in a labeled as gay. I was teased, push, spit on, nicer pulled on me. My bike was stolen. I became depressed, consider dropping out of school. By 11th grade at already tempted suicide twice. By teachers looked on as i endured bowling and homophobic slurs but i honestly dont think they know how to in inappropriate. I didnt feel safe, because i wasnt safe. I desperately needed an adult i could trust but it was far too risky to seek out support. I had no idea how to go about finding help. There was no information, not even a sticker or a poster with a phone number to call. All through those years, i searched and prayed for just one person to make me feel safe. I never found that person during those years, but it drove me to want to become a teacher, and then a School Counselor, to be that person for my students. Mass shootings like the one that Sandy Hook Elementary School make headlines, but they are rare. Students are far more likely to encounter gang violence, bullying and harassment in everyday life. They need access to counseling, support and other Mental Health services to cope with those kinds of experiences and much more. For example, when dad is beating mom, when they become homeless, when they are thinking of dropping out, when their parents are deported. By now, caseloads have grown so much that counselors have time to put out fires, when we should be preventing them from igniting in the first place. The situation is the same for school nurses, psychologists, social workers, and other schoolbased Mental Health professionals. The recommended ratio of students to School Counselors is 250 to one. And california the ratio is more than 1000 to one, a caseload not even superman could handle. In minnesota its nearly 800 to one, and nationwide nearly 500 to one. For some of our students, especially the most vulnerable, the resulting loss of services will have lifelong consequences. In the short run, and emotional wound may be less visible than a physical injury. Over the long run, it can fester and become crippling, like a cat in the skin or broken bone that is not cared for properly. Meanwhile, evidence mounts of mental well being and academic success go hand in hand. A recent metaanalysis of schoolbased social and Emotional Learning programs, more than 270,000 k12 students were involved, should participation in such programs improved grades and standardized test scores by a loving percentile points compared to control groups. When students feel safe and connected at school but are more likely to win. Yet most educators get no training. We call it professional development, in what it takes to create a School Climate that bushs mental well being as well as academic success. If our nation is serious about keeping students safe, that is got to change. We must do more than react after the damage has been done. We must invest in professional developers that acknowledges the need for preventive care, a healthy, safe and inclusive school. Every member of the school staff needs to know they exist. Who is statistically most likely to be a target of bullying, harassment or violence. What to expect when a kid has a dramatic experience, whether its a hurricane, violence at home, a shooting at school, or bullying. How to counseling change the behavior of bullies or those who behave violently. Every member of the school staff must be equipped t responder percolates and effectively to students who is troubled a potentially violent. Instead of playing a guessing game. It should be reaching for educators t to receive instructn and training a coffee, safe, and inclusive School Climate, just as it is routine to receive instruction in first aid for cuts and bruises, and what to do when someone chokes on a piece of food or struggles to learn algebra. Instead of standing silently by when students shun or ready till someone who is different, school staff should lead by example, embrace diversity, address problems before they escalate. Show students how to resolve conflicts in nonviolent ways using Research Proven strategies. And short, we need to take teaching students to be Good Students as seriously as we take academics. To help keep schools and students say, we must encourage professional development and cultural competence, conflict management and at that point initiatives. America must act on what we know to be true. Oui Mental Health system is bron intifada. Between 20092012, the state slashed Mental Health spending by 4. 3 billion, the largest reduction since the 1960s and 70s. Now there is widespread agreement that Mental Health services need to be expanded and improved. To keep our students safe we got to do what Research Shows. Mental well being is critical to academic success. Weve got to provide visible signs that school is a safe place not just for some, but for all. Weve got to spend more, not less, to educate and care for the whole child. On behalf of all school basement to health professionals, i thank you for this opportunity to present his testimony. Thank you. Brett bontrager, you are recognize for five minutes. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member miller, and distinguish most of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the griddle issues of School Safety. My name is brett bontrager. I am the Senior Vice President and Group Executive of stanleys a good solutions, which is a division of Stanley Black decker. We are headquartered in any nablus, and congresswoman brooks congressional district. While many of you know Stanley Black decker for its construction and doityourself products, our company has also been in the security business for many decades. It is because this expertise, decades of School Experience and the proximity of our World Headquarters in connecticut in relation to the tragedy in newtown that led us to be able to immediately play a role in helping the students and faculty of sandy hook. After the decision was made by the town to move the students to a decommissioned school, chalk hill, we were called in to do a survey and determine what was needed in the building to allow the students to move in and be safe, and we subsequently installed certain products and services to do just that. While theres certainly some information on websites and in other literature regarding School Safety, and products to exist and on the market to secure our nations schools, we have not been able to find in a research a website or other Single Source of information that comprehensively integrates all security needs together. For School Administrators, board of education members and superintendents, the daily challenges that come with educating our children and running a School District are all consuming. Today, the same officials are being asked to become experts in security, and it is important to note that they dont have to be. So what is School Safety . Certainly no single lock or system. Instead a comprehensive, integrated Security Package and longterm roadmap should be designed and implemented in each school, which were taken to account the unique physical nature of that particular school. Upon completion of the site evaluation and risk assessment, decisions must then be made on the level of security needed. But at its core the integrity of the mechanical solution must be maintained by levels of security am referring to security projects and products that range from essential hardware and mechanical access equipment, to wireless situation awareness monitoring and every solution in between. One clear trend the security provider see is a strong need to tie mass notification via an intercom system to a schools Access Control, intrusion intrusion Monitoring System and security cameras. This allows for coordination and visibility for Response Teams both inside the school as well as from local Law Enforcement or fire personnel in the case of an emergency. Lack of integration with the local First Responder team can be a critical flaw in the School Security process. One specific example of a School Digital we worked with the administration to customize the best solutions is one of the largest School Districts in louisiana which included 6000 employees, 42000 students from preprek to 12th grade, and 66 different schools. The district encompasses urban centers, server neighborhoods, world towns and committees. In reviewing efficiencies and cost saving measures, the district determined that several of the High School Campus locations were underutilized. It was decided that to fully utilize the Available Space and to reduce overhead costs, each facility would integrate seventh and eighth graders. This idea, however, did not come without security challenges. It was important that each of these locations be able to isolate or limit the interaction between younger and older students. The School Facilities on average were 60 years old and not built with security in mind. They were too many ways that im not thrice individuals could enter and leave. Every school in the system presented its own set of challenges. You will see a one size fits all approach is neither practical or recommended. This hearing has started what we think should be continued National Conversation on school on School Security and safety that includes experts from the field and School Officials in order to learn the best ways to protect our schools. Without, thank you i applaud you in the committee for taking a leadership role on this critical issue of School Safety. I know we can all agree that keeping our children safe in their schools is worth all of our time, all of our collective experience, and all of our wisdom. I am humbled that we might have a opportunity to play a role. Thank you. Dr. Osher, you recognize for five minutes. Good afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to discuss a subject im important to always but im david osher, Vice President of the american institutes for research. Aar is a nonpartisan be the social Science Research organization based in washington