The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety recently unveiled its 2024–25 Speak Up, Speak Out (SUSO) Impact Report, revealing a significant rise in student safety tips submitted across the state.
How the Speak Up Speak Out Program Protects Wisconsin Students
The SUSO initiative, a free statewide threat reporting tipline, provides students with round-the-clock, confidential support. It empowers students to act as vigilant bystanders, enabling early intervention in potential threats and fostering a safer educational environment. The tipline’s effectiveness is rooted in its Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) process, which identifies and manages threats to schools and students, promoting intervention before violence occurs.
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The latest report highlights that during the 2024–25 school year, 6,946 tips were submitted — a nearly 32% increase from the previous year. Bullying emerged as the predominant concern, accounting for 2,234 of the reports. Other significant categories included vaping with 505 reports, and cyberbullying, drugs, weapons, and sexual misconduct each contributing to hundreds of tips.
SUSO’s 3 School Safety Tip Categories
SUSO categorizes tips into three levels of concern: “imminent concern,” “heightened concern,” and “concern.” In the 2024–25 school year, 14% of the reports fell into the “imminent concern” category, involving potential life-threatening situations such as planned school attacks and suicide risks. Tips of “heightened concern” constituted 11%, dealing with recent or highly probable violence or criminal activity. The majority, 75%, were labeled as “concern,” encompassing issues like bullying and rule violations.
The program’s effectiveness is further supported by the Office of School Safety’s extensive training efforts, educating over 1,170 individuals statewide on school safety protocols. Participants included educators, law enforcement officers, and other school partners from 44 counties.
Program Recently Faced Funding Challenges
The sustainability of the SUSO program faced jeopardy last year when a legislative committee initially refused to fund the program after federal support ended in December 2023. This decision prompted a strong response from school safety advocates nationwide, urging Wisconsin lawmakers to secure the necessary funding for the tipline’s continued operation.
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To report a concern, anyone in Wisconsin can reach out to SUSO by calling 1-800-MY-SUSO-1, texting SUSO to 738477, or visiting speakup.widoj.gov.
