FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Kati Elliott Brooke MacDonald
KEH Communications KEH Communications
410-975-9638 410-975-9638
kati@kehcomm.com Brooke@kehcomm.com

‘Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program’ Assists Schools in Handling Growing Violence Among Students

Program provides administrators, teachers, parents and students with necessary tools to proactively deal with student safety issues

Cincinnati, OH – July 1, 2010 – Violence against students by students continues to become more common and severe on a growing number of school campuses in the nation. Most anti-bullying and anti-violence legislation has been enacted because of this increase in violent incidents, often times on school grounds. To answer the need for better tracking and resolution of instances of student bullying and violence, and to educate everyone involved in schools on how to spot and prevent incidents, PublicSchoolWORKS (PSW) has created a Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program (SBVP).

The SBVP program will address both bullying and violence concerns. The new program sets a precedence to let students know that bullying will not be tolerated. In addition, it provides mechanisms for anonymously reporting incidents of bullying and student violence while streamlining and automating the process for administrators to track incidents through to resolution.

A majority of districts are being proactive in looking for a system that protects students and staff, and some districts are in need of systems that help them comply with new anti-bullying legislation. PSW’s new program is affordable, easy to implement district-wide, and offers issue documentation and resolution in an efficient manner. This program will help districts implement anti-bullying procedures, train school staff and offer ways for school staff, students, parents and the community to report incidents, all the while collecting data on bullying and other incidents to be analyzed by school and other key officials.

The New Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program will include: PSW’s Student Bullying Reporting System (SBRS); PSW’s Student Safety Reporting System (SSRS); short online videos for students, including “Bullying – Beat Bullying” and “Bullying – Tell Someone;” and online training courses for staff, including, “Bullying Prevention,” “Violence Prevention,” “Positive Youth Development,” and “Teen Dating Violence.” This training is designed to provide teachers with techniques and information to deliver during class time that helps students and teachers learn how to deal with specific situations and to drive home the message that bullying and violence will not be tolerated.

The Student Bullying Reporting System (SBRS) provides tools for initiating, documenting and recording district and school responses to each reported concern. Online and telephone 24/7 reporting systems enable students and parents to report issues that might impact the safety of staff, students or property. Live attendants are available to take information and initiate contact with various national crisis hotlines that may help a student deal with a personal emergency.

The system is integrated with the Student Safety Reporting System (SSRS) which provides parents and students with anonymous ways to report violence and other safety concerns either via the telephone or online. SSRS allows students and parents to report concerns, from weapons and drugs to self-injury issues like suicide, cutting and more. At the heart of this program is the management system which immediately communicates to key administrators, and tracks and manages all student safety reports to their resolution. As a result, administration has the data needed to enhance and improve student safety programs and meet regulatory mandates.

“How many more of our youth either have to be subjects of an attack or end their own lives due to bullying or violence? Schools need to provide ways for students to communicate about issues without fear of retribution and to track incidences of bullying or other violent acts and provide interventions prior to situations escalating to extreme measures. The Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program provides both the reporting tools and the training to ensure educators are skilled in how to handle issues and to make sure students know what to do when faced with a potentially dangerous situation,” said Tom Strasburger, Vice President of PublicSchoolWORKS.

All training courses provide instruction and an end-of-course assessment that ensures district staff understands the content that is being delivered. All training is delivered online and appropriate administrators are notified if training does not take place.
Student Safety and Bullying Reporting Systems alert administrators as soon as an issue arises.
The Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program is sold as a subscription and is based on the number of students per district. Minimum fees are $1000, with larger districts paying 33 cents per student.

About PublicSchoolWORKS
Since its founding in 2000, PublicSchoolWORKS has been committed to providing top-quality, practical and cost-effective solutions to the constantly changing environmental, health and safety requirements affecting the nation’s educational systems. The company has gained an exemplary reputation for the innovation and technical superiority of its comprehensive and integrated safety and compliance management systems, which combine administrative software tools and resources to dramatically reduce the time and cost required to develop, implement, and sustain safety compliance programs. For more information visit us on the web at www.publicschoolworks.com.
# # #