July 2021 School Safety Community Bulletin: Events, Opportunities, and Resources

 July 2021

• Latest News
• Upcoming Events and Opportunities
• New School Safety Resources

Welcome to the first edition of the School Safety Community Bulletin. Distributed on a monthly basis, the bulletin features the latest school safety-related news, events, opportunities, and resources for the kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) academic community.

Latest News

FY 2021 Preventing School Violence Funding Opportunity: BJA’s STOP School Violence Program
Applications are now open for funding under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Grant Program. The STOP School Violence Grant Programis designed to improve K-12 school security by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help prevent acts of violence and ensure a positive school climate.

Eligible applicants may submit one application that includes proposals for one or both of the following areas:

• Train school personnel and educate students on preventing student violence against others and themselves to include anti-bullying training. This can also include specialized training for school officials to respond to mental health crises.
• Develop and implement multidisciplinary threat assessment and/or intervention teams and/or operate technology solutions such as anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, websites, or other school safety technology solutions for accurate identification of danger (without resort to discriminatory stereotypes or violating privacy). Threat assessment and/or intervention teams must coordinate with law enforcement agencies, behavioral health specialists, community stakeholders, and school personnel, and must include a memorandum of understanding.

The application deadline for Grants.gov is August 2 and the deadline for JustGrants is August 16. Learn more here.

BJS Releases Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2020
The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics recently released the Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2020—Executive Summary and Indicator 2: Incidence of Victimization at School and Away From School. This report is the 23rd in a series of annual publications produced jointly by BJS and NCES. It provides official estimates of school crime and safety from a variety of data sources, including national surveys of students, teachers, principals and post-secondary institutions. Indicator 2: Incidence of Victimization at School and Away From School includes data from BJS’s National Crime Victimization Survey. Learn more here.

Upcoming Events and Opportunities Grants and Funding Opportunities

FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund Program
Application Deadline: August 13

FY 2021 Preventing School Violence: BJA’s STOP School Violence Program
Application Deadline: August 2 and 16

Events, Webinars, and Conferences

Community Violence Intervention (CVI) Webinar Series Part 2: Place-based Approaches to CVI – July 21, 2021
During this webinar, presenters will discuss community violence intervention efforts in the context of a place-based approach. Framed in the social ecological model, place-based approaches can reduce and prevent community violence and crime by enhancing and maintaining the physical characteristics of settings where people come together in order to foster social interaction, strengthen connectedness, and increase collective efficacy. This webinar is part of a series launched by the Biden-Harris Administration to support communities seeking to implement or expand CVI efforts. Register here.

School Safety Webinar on Youth Preparedness and Community Resilience – July 28, 2021
In coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse will host an informational webinar on increasing youth preparedness and building resilience in K-12 school communities. FEMA representatives will discuss programs, tools, and resources aimed at empowering youth to learn the hazards that affect their community; understand how to stay safe in an emergency; practice critical emergency response skills; and lead preparedness-building activities in their communities. Educators, parents, and students are encouraged to attend. Register here.

Visit the SchoolSafety.gov Opportunities Page for additional school safety-related grants, webinars, conferences, and more.

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New School Safety Resources

Ransomware Resources 

The United States has experienced a significant increase in activity with ransomware attacks against K-12 educational institutions, especially throughout the transition to remote and virtual learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this ongoing threat, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has developed the following reference materials, best practices, tips, and considerations to help school communities stay safe and secure online.

• StopRansomware.gov – Collaborative effort across the federal government and the first joint website created to help private and public organizations mitigate their ransomware risk, including specific resources to help K-12 institutions remain secure
• Cyber Threats to K-12 Remote Learning Education – Fact sheet for non-technical educational professionals with information on general cybersecurity best practices, video-conferencing best practices, and available resources
• Ransomware Reference Materials for K-12 – Online repository of ransomware reference materials, resources, and guidance for K-12 school communities
• Ransomware Reference Materials for Parents, Teachers, and School Administrators – Best practices for school administrators, as well as parents and teachers, to enhance a school’s security poster during distance and hybrid learning conditions
• Ransomware Reference Materials K-12 School and School District IT Staff – Best practices for school and school district cybersecurity managers, system administrators, and other technical staff
• Ransomware Reference Materials for Students – Tips and considerations, as well as cybersecurity best practices, to help students stay safe and do their part to keep school networks secure while learning remotely
• Cyber Actors Target K-12 Distance Learning Education to Cause Disruptions and Steal Data – Joint Cybersecurity Advisory issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, CISA, and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center that assesses how malicious cyber actors are targeting K-12 educational institutions, leading to ransomware attacks, the theft of data, and the disruption of distance learning services
• Ransomware Readiness Assessment Tool – Desktop software tool to help organizations better assess how well they are equipped to defend against and recover from a ransomware incident

Visit SchoolSafety.gov for additional resources to improve safety and security within schools and school districts.

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If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future newsletters, please contact us at [email protected]. Follow @SchoolSafetyGov on Twitter for additional school safety updates.