Charleston, West Virginia — A series of school safety conferences will soon be held in four regions across the state, featuring important updates on how to respond during a crisis.
The West Virginia Department of Education's Office of School Safety will host safety conferences this spring in Lewisburg, Romney, Wheeling and Charleston.
This one-day event brings together county and school administrators and school safety personnel to provide support in conducting active shooter drills using the latest crisis planning tools. Topics include the latest information on how to submit plans and coding student data.
WVDE School Safety Director Jonah Adkins discussed several other areas the meeting will focus on at the West Virginia State Board of Education's March meeting.
“We also plan to share with them some of the capabilities within WVEIS to support safe reunification efforts. We also plan to share the latest research for effective planning and preparedness. FBI agents will be with us just in case of an emergency,'' Adkins said.
He also said he is working with partners at the Department of Homeland Security to refine and enhance current safety protocols and procedures and continues to work with the Division of Public School Safety.
Adkins said the safety department continues to identify, investigate and mitigate threats to schools.
“They receive threats reported every day through our See Send app, as well as the Safe Schools helpline, and are very quick to turn around investigations and make arrests where necessary,” he said. .
Adkins said the Department of Homeland Security will brief attendees on its work with communities and schools. He also said representatives from the FBI's Victim Services Division will provide insight into local, regional and national issues facing schools and students.
Adkins said he is making sure all school staff understand that in the event of an emergency, it's more important than ever to enter correct data now.
“We often spend time on actual training, which is important, but data, appropriate interactions with families, and even small details can get buried in the planning. These important areas “We will focus on some of these,” he said.
Adkins concluded that planning for the safety meeting is still in progress and there is no set date for when it will take place at this time.
“We're looking at holding it in May, plans haven't been finalized yet, but we're looking at it right now,” Adkins said.
