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For Immediate Release
April 18, 2007
ISBE, State Police and Terrorism Task Force team up to
provide school safety training
Training ISP Safety Education
Officers to assist schools in planning for emergency planning
Springfield, Ill. – The Illinois State Board of
Education (ISBE), Illinois State Police (ISP) and the
Illinois Terrorism Task Force announced today they are
teaming up to improve local school security by training
all ISP Safety Education Officers (SEO) to be multi-hazard
instructors for their local school districts. The training
is part of a larger effort to better prepare Illinois
schools to plan for and manage a variety of possible hazardous
events.
“Schools are supposed to be safe havens for our
children, but the reality of today is that we must be
vigilant in planning for any and all types of hazards,
whether it’s a tornado, terrorism or something else,”
said Interim State School Superintendent Christopher Koch.
“Working together both locally, and within state
government, we’re preparing our schools and first
responders to better deal with any hazardous incident
that may arise.”
This week, the Illinois State Board of Education, through
a grant funded by the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, will
be training ISP Safety Education Officers to become instructors
in “Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools.”
The course is designed to provide the SEO’s with
the skills and tools they need to develop effective emergency
operations plans for a wide variety of potential critical
incidents that a school may experience. The SEO’s
will then be able to serve as instructors and advisers
providing training and technical assistance to schools
within their region.
“Our SEO’s will be able to
provide updated training and technical assistance to their
local schools. Having these trainers located throughout
the state ensures that ISP can deliver broadbased training
related to important safety issues,” said ISP Director
Larry Trent. “This is yet another resource that
we can provide throughout our communities in order to
improve school safety in Illinois.”
In total, 25 SEO’s in 21 districts are undergoing
the “Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Illinois
Schools” to become local instructors. The training
includes how to instruct local school personnel about
emergency operations management, hazard analysis, critical
incident response procedures and testing emergency response
plans. The “Multi-Hazard Planning for Schools”
initiative began in December 2004, and has since trained
more than 2,600 participants from nearly 700 public schools
districts. Having additional trainers stationed throughout
the Illinois State Police district offices will allow
for ongoing and updated training.
“The most successful emergency planning starts
at the local level, that is why it is so important to
have trainers available as additional resources on a regional
basis,” said Mike Chamness, Chairman of the Illinois
Terrorism Task Force. “State coordination is making
it possible for better local planning; giving schools
the tools they need in order to manage an emergency until
first responders arrive.”
The training supports the School Safety Drill Act, which
Governor Blagojevich signed into law in August 2005 as
part of his vision aimed at providing better protection
for the state’s school children during emergencies.
He directed ITTF, ISBE and the Office of the State Fire
Marshal to work with schools and first responders to ensure
that schools drill effectively and address the hazards
facing schools in today’s world. Under the School
Safety Drill Act schools must work closely with emergency
first responder agencies in conducting annual reviews
of emergency and crisis response plans, as well as conduct
three evacuation drills, one bus evacuation and one severe
weather drill each school year.
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