National Speakers Featured at
School Safety Conference

The Illinois State Board of Education will be hosting a one-day conference in Springfield on March 21, 2003, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel focusing on the roles and responsibilities of students, school personnel, law enforcement, and the community at large in reducing threats and ensuring that schools are safe and conducive to learning.

School administrators and students from Heath High School, Columbine High School, and Santana High School will share their thoughts about what they learned from the tragic school shootings that they experienced in their schools.

The panel presentation headed by Bill Bond (former Principal, West Paducah, KY), Jon DeStefano (Board President, Columbine High School), and Karen Degischer (Principal, Santana High School) will include students from each of these schools who will share their insights and answer questions of importance to members of the audience. The conference is especially designed and intended for students as well as adults from the school, social service, and law enforcement communities.

Featured speakers will include William Modzeleski, Director, U.S. Department of Education, Safe and Drug Free Schools Program who will share his thoughts on school safety from the federal perspective and the latest school safety initiatives from the U.S. Department of Education, and Jason Dorsey, 24 old year national spokesperson, founder of the Institute to End School Violence, and Author of “Ending School Violence-Solutions from America’s Youth”. Other topical presentations will include sessions on legal issues in school safety, violence prevention, and the student school safety audit.

The conference will be held from at 9:00-3:00 and is open to the public. Onsite registration begins at 8:00. The registration fee of $25.00 includes continental breakfast, lunch and all conference materials. Additional information about the conference is available from Diane Taylor, registration coordinator, at 618-395-8626.