WASHINGTON – To protect students, increase school safety and raise awareness of effective ways to prevent violence, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales hosted the Conference on School Safety at the request of President Bush.
The conference participants included education, threat assessment, legal, crisis counseling and intervention experts, as well as teachers, elected officials, school administrators and parents.
Spellings led panels on preventing school violence and helping communities cope with traumatic events and introduced First Lady Laura Bush. To conclude the conference, Spellings and Gonzales presented Bush with a summary of the panel discussions and led a dialogue on federal, state and local cooperation to enhance school safety.
For practical information regarding crisis planning for schools and communities, visit: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/crisisplanning.pdf.
For emergency planning resources, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/emergencyplan or http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061010-1.html.
