For Dr. Amy Grosso, Ph.D., behavioral health as a profession wasn’t really on her radar until she faced the unexpected loss of a family member, which drove her to the question: “How do I help others not experience this too?” 

When Grosso was the grant coordinator for Round Rock schools, she realized how underrepresented the importance of student mental health was in school safety funding. Through discussions around early intervention, she became the director of behavioral health for the Round Rock school district, where she developed a non-responder model with social workers, and implemented new threat assessment protocols. 

More highlights include addressing mental health and suicide prevention in addition to physical security measures, resources like the 988-suicide prevention hotline and support for school staff. 

Dr. Dewey Cornell is a professor of education and forensic clinical psychologist. His work evaluating criminal defendants sparked a deep interest in preventing violent crime.

In this episode, Dr. Cornell breaks down behavioral threat assessment and its growing impact on school safety. Inspired by FBI and Secret Service practices, this assessment helps schools assess reports of threatening behavior, online and in-person, and take appropriate action. The goal: to prevent school violence through early intervention.

More episode highlights include zero tolerance vs. behavioral threat assessment and the importance of individualized approaches to student behavior, navigating FERPA and privacy misconceptions, including what educators can legally share, and digital threat assessments and how publicly available online behavior can inform school safety decisions. 

Bill Bryson, technology director at Rock Ridge Schools, and John Connolly, chief technology and operations officer at Consolidated High School District 230, bring their combined expertise to share the impact of technology on school security.

While they may work in different school districts, Bill and John share a common approach to safety. In this episode, they discuss the technology initiatives their schools have implemented to enhance lockdown procedures. By integrating systems, such as PA announcements and automated door locks, their schools help ensure a coordinated and immediate response to lockdown triggers.

More episode highlights include the lessons learned from lockdown drills and false alarms, AI integration in school security, growing recognition of creating strong, ongoing relationships with law enforcement, and more. 

Lieutenant Kelly Martin has been with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office for 18 years. In that time, Lieutenant Martin joined the board of officers for the Florida Association of School Safety Specialists, also known as FS3. 

Seminole County is unique in that the sheriff's office directly manages school safety for the district. Their comprehensive school resource officer program requires at least one SRO on every school campus, and additional coverage when needed. 

More episode highlights include the impact of recent school safety legislation in Florida, the importance of collaboration, relationship-building and proactive planning between schools, law enforcement and other stakeholders for emergency response, and the growing challenges posed by student mental health issues, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Jason Stoddard and Paul Timm came to us live from the floor of the Maryland Association of School Business Officials Conference in Ocean City—our first episode recorded from a trade show floor! 

In this episode, Jason and Paul discuss the importance of establishing national standards, certification and advocacy for school safety directors. Jason also emphasizes the need to master fundamental safety practices, develop positive school cultures and enforce consistent discipline before pursuing more advanced technological solutions. 

More highlights include Jason’s challenges of transitioning from law enforcement to an educational environment, the evolving threat landscape facing K-12 schools and how to address it, and the need to return to the basics of school safety and security with emerging threats including cybersecurity. 

We are so excited to bring you our next episode featuring guest Jermaine Galloway, known nationally as the Tall Cop! 

Through his nearly 20-year career as a police officer, Jermaine began providing training for substance abuse prevention, education and enforcement strategies. To date, the Tall Cop has trained more than 825,000 professional and community members. 

Join us as Jermaine and Paul discuss his tactics for identifying potential substance abuse within schools and communities, and how he stays alert for new drugs that are coming to the market. 

In this episode, our host Paul Timm catches up with Kevin Wren, a School Safety Advocate with The Cook & Boardman Group.

Kevin's extensive background in school security began at age 15 as a student advocate in Georgia and evolved through roles as a school resource officer, firefighter and EMT, eventually leading school security and emergency management departments in South Carolina. He later went on to win the Campus Safety Director of the Year award in 2016.

Kevin discusses major topics and trends in school security today, including the importance of having a holistic school security management plan, weapon-screening technology, AI surveillance and prioritizing the needs of your school over the latest tech trends, behavioral threat management and the necessity of keeping doors locked, and more.

This week, we’re being schooled by students—and it turns out, we have a lot to learn! 

Emma Mann, student ambassador for Safe and Sound Schools and Vanderbilt University student, shared a unique perspective on school safety and security in the eyes of a student. In fact, there’s a lot that administrators and staff DON’T know when it comes to social media, what students talk about or struggle with, or how to engage students in conversation around safety. 

Emma joined Paul Timm in this episode of The Changing Face of School Security to discuss the impact of social media on safety, the importance of students getting involved in school safety efforts, building relationships and communication between staff and students and more. 

If you told Missy Dodds years ago that she would be working as a school safety advocate, she probably wouldn’t believe you. However, life always has its twists and turns. 

Missy got her start in teaching at Red Lake High School. On March 21, 2005, her life took the biggest turn: gunfire erupted in the school. Missy had locked her classroom door moments before, but the gunman entered by shooting the tempered glass view panel next to the door. 

Missy Dodds, parent ambassador for Safe and Sound Schools, joined Paul Timm in this episode of The Changing Face of School Security to discuss her recovery journey as a school shooting survivor, changes in access control and relationships with law enforcement, the importance of community involvement in school safety and more.