FRISCO, Texas — Michele Gay turned tragedy into teaching, as she recounted the loss of her daughter, Josephine, in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting at the opening keynote during the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference.

Now the co-founder and executive director of Safe and Sound Schools, Gay discussed Friday afternoon her personal journey and how she overcame a point in her life when she couldn’t see a future after the murder of her daughter, 19 of her classmates, and six school staff members. What helped her, she said, was rethinking school safety with another mother, Alyssa Parker, who also lost her daughter in the shooting.

Gay, who started her career as a special education teacher at age 21, said she had no training for how to keep children safe. She noted that the school district and those of the companies at the conference have something stated in their mission statements relating to safety. Yet, many forget to mention the how.

“Our Super Bowl is safe kids at school,” Gay said as she showed a chart outlining the framework for a comprehensive school safety plan and development.

She noted that if a child has a monitor or aide, often those school employees are viewed as the sole safety plan. However, she cautioned that mentality as when it comes to safety, “We’re all in this together.”

School safety is everybody’s job, and it’s the core of what people do. She explained that safety is more than procedures owned by one team and it must be embedded across all aspects of school districts. She advised rethinking how safety is taught, and said that it should be developmentally appropriate, low-stress and skill-based.

Don’t DIY safety, she said, adding that it’s important to coordinate and comply. Be vocal about safety and work through codes and compliance with experts and partners. A properly secured door, for example, is a simple but powerful layer of protection. Gay asked those in the room to be loud when it comes to student safety to and represent what they know.

Keep it simple and non-sensational was another message she encouraged throughout her keynote. Use clear, action-oriented language and minimal supporting icons, she said. Avoid evocative images or drama that create trauma; focus on behaviors and steps kids can take.

She broke down the key considerations for creating a safety plan.

• Ask the experts: Who are the experts on your students and your community? In terms of transportation, she said it’s usually the school bus drivers who know the children the best.
• All-Hazards Approach: Be prepared for anything. Comprehensive planning, skills and knowledge building, and generalization of skills.
• Teaching before Training: Equipping students, building confidence and trust, setting up for successful drills and exercises, building the life skills of safety. Gay said it’s not about pop quizzes, but instead talking to students beforehand on what the training entails and why the bus is built a certain way, for example.
• Skills for Life: Tools in the toolbox. Increases safety across settings and circumstances.
• No Drama, No Trauma: Focus on skills and behaviors. Skip the sensorial and sensational. Avoid evocative images. Consider your words. What do you want students to do if they’re in danger? She noted it’s not just about doing an evacuation drill, but instead talking about the behavior and steps that students need to take.
• Words Matter: Keep it simple. Use action-oriented words. Avoid dramatic words and phrases. Support text with simple images (icons, symbols) and keep them to three. Like Stop, drop and roll. Everyone remembers this saying, but how many actually had to do it?

If you can’t get on board with all those considerations, where do we start, she asked. She said it’s about meeting students where they are. She discussed the ladder of levels, where students can be on different rings based on their age and abilities. Use the ladder to tailor expectations and training intensity, Gay advised.

In terms of training exceptional students, she said standard plans often miss students with disabilities or unique needs. Her daughter Josphine had many exceptional abilities, as she called them, she was diagnosed with autism and later with global apraxia and apraxia of speech. Gay advised creating individualized, portable plans so any staff (including substitutes) know the supports required.

The inclusive safety planning six-step process includes:

1. 1. Gather your team
   2. Identify specific needs
   3. Build individual Teams
   4. Create an ISP
   5. Share the plan
   6. Preview and adjust

Related: Download App for 2025 TSD Conference
Related: Mother of Sandy Hook Victim Brings Student Safety Message to TSD
Related: Gallery: National School Bus Safety Week 2025

James Page, director of transportation for Putnam City Schools in Oklahoma, shared with STN following the keynote that he found the emergency plans for students with disabilities as his biggest takeaway.

“It was something that in the 20-plus years that I’ve been in school transportation that I’ve never thought about,” Page said. “It was eye-opening to see that. So as soon as I hit the ground Wednesday morning back at my district, that’s going to be one of the first things that I’m going to be working with my SPED department about. Sitting down and coming up with evacuation plans for our special education students.”

Gay also discussed the importance of transportation being involved in the student-parent reunification process and emergency planning. She recommended attendees engage in tabletop exercises, something that can be done on the school bus. For instance, ask students if the school bus was to catch fire right now, what would they do?

She noted it’s important to communicate with families and staff during crises, planning out how to speak with one another. She advised against one off, dramatic messaging for kids and instead recommended repeated, skill-based learning.

Overall, Gay advised attendees to start small and collaborate. Gather your team, introduce simple action words and icons, run low-stress practice, then expand it to scale, she said. Action checklists include forming a multi-disciplinary team (including transportation), inventory students’ access/functional needs, draft quick individual safety plans, practice tabletop scenarios on buses and standardize simple action-based messaging for each developmental level.

The post Mother of Sandy Hook Victim Discusses Tragedy Planning for Students with Disabilities appeared first on School Transportation News.

Milwaukee Public Schools has rolled out a new emergency protocol designed to standardize and simplify responses to emergencies.  

Staff, families, students and the broader community were tragically reminded of the need for such protocol when, just weeks ago, a gunman opened fire during a student Mass at a Minneapolis school, killing two children and injuring more than a dozen others. 

Shannon Jones, MPS director of school safety and security, said shooting incidents like these prompt staff to reflect and assess.

“I think after every incident that has happened nationwide, actually worldwide, we kind of look at where we are and try to take in consideration the ‘what ifs,’” Jones said. “Overall, it’s about the safety of the kids.” 

What’s new?

On Sept. 2, the first day of the school year at most MPS schools, students were introduced to the Standard Response Protocol, said Kevin Hafemann, emergency operations manager for the district. 

The protocol was developed by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, a national nonprofit that provides free safety resources to schools. 

Posters explaining each response are displayed in classrooms at MPS’ roughly 150 schools. 

Those responses are: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter. 

Five emergency responses

Here’s what each response entails for students and teachers. 

• Hold: Students remain in their room or area, while hallways are kept clear. While holding, normal activities can continue. 
• Secure: Teachers lock outside doors to protect people inside buildings. Although awareness should be heightened, normal activities can continue. 
• Lockdown: Teachers clear hallways, lock doors to individual rooms and turn off the lights. Students hide and keep quiet. 
• Evacuate: Students move to an announced location, leaving personal items if necessary. 
• Shelter: Depending on the hazard announced by the teacher, students respond with the relevant strategy. For example, if there’s an earthquake, students should drop, cover and hold.

Easier in an actual emergency

“The neat thing about the SRP (Standard Response Protocol), it’s very simple. There’s only five, so it’s an all-hazards approach,” Hafemann said. 

The posters replaced a much more detailed flipbook. 

“This is where we came from,” Hafemann said, holding up the flipbook. “Very great, excellent information. But during a crisis, you lose your fine motor skills. You’re not going to have time when you’re scared to be able to read what to do.” 

Many community partners were involved in bringing the new protocol to MPS, Hafemann said. This includes the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Fire Department.

Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said the collaboration has helped MPS avoid “reinventing a wheel on something that might not work in the real world.”   

For example, he said, it’s important for staff to know that during a fire, one of the safest areas of a building is the stairwell. 

“Through good incident command and communication with folks at the building, that gives us time for them to go, ‘Hey, we got a kid in a motorized wheelchair on the west stairwell, third floor.’ That becomes a major priority for us,” Lipski said. 

Some emergency protocol details cannot be shared publicly for safety reasons, but families are informed whenever changes directly affect school procedures, said Missy Zombor, president of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors.  

What’s the same?

Although the Standard Response Protocol is new for the district, it is part of the district’s ongoing Emergency Operations Plan.

The plan is an overarching safety framework mandated by state law, requiring school districts to coordinate prevention, mitigation, response and recovery efforts across the district. 

A range of emergency drills are also mandated: monthly fire drills; at least two tornado or hazard drills annually; one “school violence” or “lockdown” drill annually. 

MPS also conducts defibrillator drills and, for younger students, bus evacuation drills each year.

What steps can be taken now?

Families should review the Standard Response Protocol poster with their schoolchildren, Hafemann said. 

“Just have those discussions with children about these and that they’re aware of what to do,” he said.

Lipski advised reviewing “the basic stuff” as well. 

“They probably do well to review basic ‘stranger danger’ stuff,” he said. “Yes, we want you to follow instructions that your teachers are telling you, but if you need to leave the building because there’s an emergency and you get separated, make sure you find an adult that you are familiar with.”

As children get a little bit older, Lipski added, it would be helpful for them to get CPR training and some basic first aid. 

“It just reinforces that, ‘Hey, you know what – helping people is a thing you can do,’” Lipski said.

For more information

Families can update their contact information in the online Parent Portal to effectively use SchoolMessenger, the district’s emergency communication tool.

If families have safety and security-related questions, students can reach out to their respective teachers first, while parents can contact Jones or Stephen Davis, media relations manager for MPS, Davis said. 

Jones can be reached at 414-345-6637. 

Davis can be reached at 414-475-8675 and davis2@milwaukee.k12.wi.us.

MPS also provides some opportunities for input from families through school-based councils, district surveys, board meetings and community listening sessions, Zombor said. 

The Wisconsin Department of Justice maintains a statewide portal for reporting safety concerns. People can also call the tipline at 800-697-8761.

Families and students can access key safety and security documents on the MPS website.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Milwaukee Public Schools rolls out new emergency protocol is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

A disturbing incident on an Orleans Parish school bus in Louisiana has left a longtime school bus monitor hospitalized with multiple injuries after she was allegedly attacked by a high school student and the student’s mother, reported News Channel 10.

The incident reportedly occurred Aug. 21 and was caught on video, involving a McDonogh 35 High School student and her mother physically assaulting school bus monitor Tamika Jackson. The footage aired by News Channel 10 indicates the mother striking Jackson and then her daughter joining the violent altercation.

Jackson’s husband, Johnny Jackson told reporters his wife was transported to the emergency room with severe injuries, including bite marks on her face and thumbs, scratches and a deep gash across her face.

“They pulled her hair out. They bit her in her face, on her lips, on her thumbs,” he said.

Images shown by News Channel 10 support his descriptions of the injuries.

According to the article, Johnny Jackson said the confrontation began after his wife instructed the student not to sit in the last two rows of the bus, an area she suspected students had been using inappropriately, potentially to perform lewd acts. The student, who was not identified in this writing, allegedly called her mother, who then boarded the bus at confronted Jackson, resulting in the violent assault.

Despite her injuries and being on duty at the time, Jackson was reportedly issued a Municipal Court summons by the New Orleans Police Department for disturbing the peace.

Her husband expressed outrage, saying, “It’s insane knowing my wife was at work when this happened, and yet she’s being treated like she was part of a fight.”

NOPD has not filed a police report at this time, citing a lack of video evidence. Officers reportedly told the family they are treating the matter as a “routine fight” until the footage is reviewed.

In response to the incident, InspireNOLA Charter Schools, which oversees McDonogh 35, stated it is conducting an active investigation and emphasized that the safety of students and staff is a top priority. Community members and staff have called for a thorough investigation and accountability following the attack.

Related: South Carolina Parent Runs School Bus Off Road After Alleged Child Assault
Related: Virginia School Bus Aide Arrested for Alleged Assault
Related: Arizona School Bus Driver Assaulted, Student’s Mother Charged
Related: Texas Student Accused of Assaulting Officers and Attemping to Start School Bus

The post School Bus Monitor Hospitalized After Violent Attack by Student, Parent appeared first on School Transportation News.

STN EXPO hosted a visceral experience to train student transporters in emergency school bus evacuations. A bus loaned by Washoe County Schools was set up in the parking lot of the Peppermill Hotel Resort and filled with fog machines for attendees to traverse as they attempted to “rescue” a predetermined number of dolls standing in for students.

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Images by Nashawn Craig / 0312 Photography.

The post Gallery: Emergency Evacuation Class at STN EXPO West 2025 appeared first on School Transportation News.