Wisconsin Office of School Safety; violence prevention in schools

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. - Dozens of school staff were trained on Monday, Aug. 19, but funding for the program is running out.

Before the bell rings to usher in a new school year, teachers, guidance counselors and school resource officers are learning ways to prevent school violence.

Trish Kilpin is the Office of School Safety director for the Wisconsin Department of Justice. She said one of the most effective tools schools have to stop violent activity is the state’s confidential Speak Up, Speak Out hotline.

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"We do know that in most school shootings, that a peer knew about an offender’s plan to attack," Kilpin said.

Kilpin said out of 11,000 tips in four years, police have been able to investigate 250 reports about potential school attacks, and 260 reports about students with weapons.

She said they have funding through September of next year, and that her office will again ask for long-term funding in the next budget cycle. 

She said roughly $2 million is needed for the hotline and this training.

Dawn Hass is a school resource officer in Oconomowoc. She said many issues among students start with bullying online.

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"I tell parents all the time to call me. Email me. Even if you don’t think it’s important right now, let us know so we can look into it," Hass said. "Social media stuff gets spread around. A lot of kids just feel a lot braver sending these messages to kids on social media."

Hass encourages parents to download social media monitoring apps like Bark to help understand what kids are posting online.

"Our goal is to prevent violence, accurately understand a student’s struggles and get support for them in a timely way," Kilpin said.

It’s all to help make sure the school year is a safe one.