School Safety Speakers Bureau

When school safety failures are examined after serious incidents, in assessments and in the courtroom, the questions rarely center on hardware. They center on people: supervision, training, communication, decisions under stress, and whether policies were actually followed. Drawing on more than 40 years of frontline experience, expert witness work, and Johns Hopkins doctoral research, Dr. Trump examines the gap between policy and practice and how to prepare every adult to act. Attendees leave with concrete, low-cost actions they can start right away, including the Five-Minute Rule and role-specific steps for the next 30 days.

This presentation examines how leaders can bring structure and direction to uncertain situations. Participants explore ways to assess competing priorities, clarify responsibility, and connect safety decisions to the operational realities of their schools. The emphasis is on leadership judgment and organizational readiness before, during, and after a crisis.

This session focuses on the human side of prevention and preparedness. Participants examine how everyday habits influence security, how stress can affect attention and judgment, and how clearer procedures and purposeful practice can support more consistent responses.

This workshop examines what makes school and district safety teams functional before an emergency and better prepared to coordinate under pressure. Participants explore team membership, leadership, communication, accountability, and follow-through, with attention to relationships among schools, district offices, and community response partners.

This program provides a practical review of school security and emergency preparedness fundamentals. Participants consider where gaps can develop between written expectations and daily operations, how to prioritize improvements, and how to make preparedness an ongoing process involving staff and community partners.

This presentation examines how to communicate with students, staff, families, news media, and the broader school community when information is incomplete and emotions are high. Participants explore the balance between timely updates and accuracy, the importance of acknowledging uncertainty, and ways to coordinate messages across school and district leadership.

Drivers receive extensive training to drive the bus, but far less on managing behavior. Through realistic scenarios and active participation, drivers learn the power of verbal intervention from the driver’s seat, how to handle an angry parent at the bus stop, and the challenges personal space presents on a bus.

Many school plans meet state mandates but fall short of what schools need to manage real emergencies. This session reviews your current plan and shows how to meet both state requirements and fundamental school safety needs. It is most effective in a tabletop format.

A detailed look at how the school safety team operates and the issues that arise even in the best circumstances. The session covers both sides of the relationship, identifies common problems, and offers practical ways to remove those barriers.

Many states are funding grants for physical security, but that is only half of school safety. This session examines why schools need both and how to present a comprehensive approach to school safety.

Support staff training is too often neglected or minimized, yet these adults play a critical role in school safety. This session helps support staff understand their role and how to be another trusted adult in the building.

Templated assessment forms, or assessments conducted with a product vendor present, may not reflect what your schools actually need. This session discusses your options in detail before thousands of dollars are spent.

Helps upper-level leaders manage school safety resources effectively and asks a hard question: is school safety truly your number one priority, or simply the phrase echoed to the public when something goes wrong?

A review of current practices for bomb threats and social media threats: what is in writing, who is trained, and whether your response is guided by sound procedures or by panic.

An examination of your current working relationship with local law enforcement, including whether, and when, it is appropriate for school leaders to say no.

Learn how to create and sustain a regional collaborative modeled after the Emergency Preparedness Interagency Collaborative (EPIC) in Southern California, bringing together school districts, private schools, colleges, emergency managers, law enforcement, fire, healthcare, the American Red Cross, utilities, and other partners. The session shows how to move collaboration from conversation to action through regional exercises, reunification planning, EOC and Incident Command preparedness, and communications testing.

Rather than relying on a single district safety committee, learn how to build multiple collaborative groups with defined purposes that connect administrators, safety and security staff, risk management, transportation, facilities, communications, mental health professionals, and law enforcement. Participants explore the communication pathways, shared planning, exercises, and leadership structures that keep this work going through personnel and leadership changes.

How schools can build a comprehensive safety system that combines physical security and emergency preparedness with prevention, student behavior, adult response, school climate, and protective factors.

The connection between safety, regulation, student engagement, and academic achievement, and why school safety should be viewed as an instructional and organizational issue, not simply a security function.

Practical, evidence-based approaches to identifying, assessing, and managing concerning student behavior, including multidisciplinary threat assessment teams, investigative practices, intervention, documentation, and case management. Closely aligned with the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) model.

Moving the emergency operations plan off the shelf and into daily practice through effective Incident Command structures, staff training, functional annexes, crisis communications, exercises, and operational readiness.

Developing and exercising effective family reunification systems, including site selection, staffing, accountability, transportation, parent communication, law enforcement coordination, and recovery. Also available as a tabletop exercise for school leadership teams.

How schools communicate effectively with staff, families, students, media, and the broader community before, during, and after a crisis, with an emphasis on speed, accuracy, transparency, and maintaining trust.

How adult responses can either reduce or accelerate escalation, and how consistent, regulation-informed practices can improve both school safety and the instructional environment.

A leadership-level examination of how emergency preparedness, behavioral threat assessment, physical security, student support, school climate, communication, and prevention should function as one integrated system rather than separate initiatives.

A firsthand account of the January 23, 2018 shooting at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky, from the perspective of the district superintendent who was also the father of a student inside the school. Part 1 traces the events of the day, including acts of heroism by students and staff, the arrival of first responders, the arrest of the shooter, and reunification. Part 2 covers the aftermath, from securing the scene and media responsibilities to cleaning the facility, reopening the school, the trial, the lawsuit, and the months and years that followed.

A firsthand account of the December 7, 2017 active shooter event at Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico. Participants reflect on their own preparedness, learn how to strengthen safety plans and purposeful drills, build partnerships with local agencies, and embrace the mindset that “Every Day is Game Day.” This session can be extended or paired with an additional session for more in-depth takeaways.

School safety is about more than funding. This session explores how ongoing communication, trust, regular evaluation, and the engagement of staff, students, families, and community partners create a culture where safety is a shared responsibility and vigilance is second nature.

Drawing on lessons from the Aztec High School shooting, participants examine the broad range of issues that arise after a tragedy, from sustained social and emotional support for students and staff to a commitment to safety that goes beyond compliance.

Effective crisis leadership depends on a well-prepared team, not one individual. This session covers team-based leadership, the critical role of advance planning and practice, and building a culture of ownership in which everyone, from board members to classroom teachers, understands their role in school safety.

School safety does not have to start with millions spent on products or redesign. Drawing on years of dinner table conversations between an educator and a law enforcement officer, John and Heather share five practical merges that strengthen the partnership between schools and law enforcement and can be implemented in any school at no cost.

In every school and law enforcement agency, most people will move forward when leadership is clear, consistent, and supportive, while a small percentage consistently resists change. This session shows leaders how to invest their energy in the 98%, set clear expectations, and build cultures where the success of the many is not derailed by the resistance of the few.

A heart-centered keynote that reconnects educators and School Resource Officers with the purpose behind their work. Through engaging stories and real-world insight, it highlights the partnership between educators and SROs and invites participants to refocus, recharge, and reignite the passion that first inspired their service.

Crisis drills are meant to prepare, not traumatize. This practical session challenges outdated, fear-based approaches and shows how to design drills that are effective, developmentally appropriate, and trauma-informed, building confidence and real-world readiness without overwhelming staff or students.

Trusted relationships may be the most important variable for school safety, well-being, and leadership. This keynote models the 4 C’s of Communication, Collaboration, Cultural Competency, and Caring, and stresses working with heartware (people) before hardware (things). Dr. Sroka also shares how a cardiac arrest during a school in-service, and the SROs and educators who saved his life, changed his message from The Power of One to The Power of Many. Research-based and reality-driven, it offers honesty, humor, and hope.

How social bonding, relationships, school climate, and student connection can contribute to safer learning environments and reduced disruptive behavior.

Helping education leaders critically examine school safety research, distinguish evidence from assumptions, and apply research findings to practical PreK-12 prevention and improvement strategies.