Lead & Manage My School: Conference on School Safety (Chevy Chase, Maryland, October 10, 2006). Transcripts

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings joined President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and Attorney General Gonzales at a Conference on School Safety on October 10, 2006. Teachers, parents, administrators, law enforcement officials, and other experts discussed best practices and lessons learned about school safety during the conference at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland. There were three panels. Panel I, Preventing Violence in Schools, was a "best practices" session to share practical ideas and solutions from law enforcement and security experts to help safeguard our schools from external and internal threats. The panel discussion focused specifically on facility security, threat assessments, specialized enforcement expertise, and law enforcement community outreach. Panel II, Prepared Schools and Communities Are Safer, discussed how school administrators and teachers, parents, students, law enforcement, and community groups can best coordinate their efforts to ensure their schools are prepared and safe. The panel highlighted effective prevention and intervention practices, model programs, and crisis plans that could be adapted by communities and districts. Panel III, Helping Communities Heal and Recover, addressed effective strategies, organizations, and resources that schools and communities can use for additional help in recovering from traumatic events. The Closing Discussion, Working Together to Make Our Schools Safe, was moderated by Attorney General Gonzales and Secretary Spellings. It was a summary discussion between President Bush and a representative group of panel participants who shared lessons learned and concrete ways schools and communities can work together after the conference.