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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Incident Reporting, Legal, Risk Management

  Business Insurance reported that Penn State University’s expenses in response to the alleged child abuse by former assistant football coach Gerald Sandusky are mounting.  A Penn State statement said they are paying nearly $2.5 million for the services of two public relations firms. The communication firms aim to work with Penn State’s public information officers to provide broad and transparent communications to key stakeholders and support the university through upcoming litigation, according to the statement. “Retaining these communications firms puts us more firmly on the path toward accountability, openness and preserving our reputation as one of the world’s leading research universities,” Penn State PresidentRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  Earth Day has been celebrated since 1970 and was created to broaden the support for environmental programs and community awareness to promote environmental citizenship. So in honor of Earth Day…I am offering everyone a tip that can help your organization with “going green” and “saving lots of green”. Wouldn’t be great if your organization could eliminate: Paper-based handbooks (employee, student, vendor, etc.) Paper-based manuals (policies, procedures, plans, etc.) Paper-based documentation (acknowledgements, agreements, etc.) Paper-based training Paper-based memos and alerts Paper-based updates Paper-based incident reporting Paper-based investigations Paper-based incident management Paper-based CYA   And just think about all of the labor-intensive cost savings your organizationRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  Did you see the recent report from the Center for American Progress?  The report estimates that the Virginia Tech tragedy cost the university and taxpayers $ 48.2 million.  And this cost does not include the “costs” associated with the loss of lives and lives that were changed forever. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and I hope all school and university administrators are paying close attention to this wisdom and this new report. According to the report, the university was responsible for most of the costs – $ 38.77 million – and the state of Virginia paid around $ 8.87Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, School Safety

  Time is our greatest asset, time is limited and we all have the same amount of time. What we do with the time we have is critical to each of us and to those around us too.  And unlike movies, cartoons and commercials…in real life we cannot go back in time. We cannot go back in time and listen to an at-risk student that committed suicide.  We cannot go back in time and prevent bullying or cyberbullying that already took place. We cannot go back in time and prevent violence, drug abuse and sexual assaults that already took place. We cannot go back inRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, Human Resources

  As budgets grow tighter…how many school Superintendents would approve the following expense requests? Expense Request A: I am submitting a request to spend thousands of dollars to print up thousands of pages of information that no one will read… Expense Request B: I am submitting a request to spend thousands of dollars for software, hardware and personnel to support the software and hardware so we can upload documents on our intranet that no one will read… Bottom lines are getting crunched because schools are still spending thousands and thousands of dollars on printing, distributing and updating Student Handbooks, Teacher Handbooks, Employee Handbooks, Department Binders, CodeRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  Awareity is proud to announce that one of our very own TIPS Administrators was awarded the LGBTQIA Educator of the Year Award at last weekend’s CESCaL conference! Below is an excerpt from Tenna’s nomination: Some of the greatest leaders in history find opportunities for helping others during times of adversity. Tenna Whitsel is one of these great leaders. As the Student Services Coordinator for Secondary Schools at Tulsa Public Schools (TPS), Tenna sees daily the tremendous challenges students, personnel, parents and communities are facing in building and maintaining a safe learning environment.  Tenna has been a champion of student and human rights in theRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  If you missed part one of this blog, please click here for teachable moments and bullying laws… Now that you have reviewed Part 1, my other concern with this story involves communities and their taxpayers.  Is the complaint by school administrators and this vote by the Council on Local Mandates putting communities and taxpayers in a more vulnerable situation with even more liabilities and costs? Do these school administrators know what happens when a school does not take appropriate actions by equipping everyone to report incidents, investigating all reports, intervening, preventing a hostile environment and documenting their actions?  Are the Council on Local MandatesRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  A recent news story involving the NJ Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, the Council on Local Mandates and a school district in Warren County in New Jersey caught my attention.  After reviewing related articles, are New Jersey school administrators missing out on a significant teachable opportunity? http://legalclips.nsba.org/?p=11962&utm_source=NSBA+e-Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=b060639842-Legal+Clips+Newsletter&utm_medium=email The Council on Local Mandates voted 7-2 that the New Jersey state law regarding anti-bullying must be amended because it includes an unfunded mandate for local school districts.  Is this really the message school administrators want to send to their students about doing the right thing?  Are these school leaders saying student safety and anti-bullying issues are notRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, School Safety

  A special thanks to Sarah Fudin for the “School Bullying Outbreak” infographic below raising awareness and providing facts about bullying methods, bullying consequences and preventative measures.  Once you have reviewed this educational graphic, please scroll down to see our “Next Steps” for bullying prevention.  Via MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching   Like Sarah points out in her blog, we all believe schools should be a safe place for students where they can learn without fear or apprehension. Yet the “School Bullying Outbreak” infographic reveals bullying problems and alarming personal consequences are creating lots of fear and challenges for students, schools, parents and communities too. AndRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Incident Reporting, Legal, Risk Management, School Safety

  With the recent passing of football coach, Joe Paterno, Joe he can now rest in peace knowing he touched the lives of many as a coach at Penn State for 62 of his 85 years on this planet. The horrific scandal at Penn State University will no doubt have an effect on the legacy of JoePa (his nickname suggesting his fatherly quality to his players and students too), some will judge JoePa based on what they know and others will judge JoePa based on what they don’t know. For me, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Joe Paterno for his foresightRead More →