The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) is hosting the Safe and Supportive Schools Conference scheduled for April 15-16 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan. Colleagues from across Kansas will present on topics to empower, inspire and motivate your staff, and provide information and new ideas to take back to your schools.

We are excited to announce the addition of two new conference strands this year: Cybersecurity and Technology and Student Data Collection and Data Privacy.

New! Cybersecurity and Technology

We are seeking dynamic and knowledgeable presenters to share insights, best practices, and innovative approaches as Kansas school districts strive to keep student data safe while embracing technology to improve student outcomes. This strand will bring together educators, administrators, IT professionals, and policymakers from districts of all sizes to explore current challenges, emerging trends, and effective strategies to enhance cybersecurity in educational settings.

New! Student Data Collection and Data Privacy

As educational institutions increasingly rely on technology for teaching and administration, the responsible and secure management of student data is critical. Data driven decision making can only happen when the data is collected, disseminated, and reported accurately and securely. We invite qualified and passionate presenters to share their expertise, insights and best practices navigating the complex landscape of student data collection and literacy while enacting robust data privacy measures to ensure student data is safe and secure. As part of this strand, KSDE will also present information about the Kansas Education Data System (KEDS) longitudinal data system.

Communication

The number one identified failure in an event is the lack of communication. Communication is not a one stop shop, nor just one person’s responsibility. This strand will include information for all those in attendance as well ideas on how to communicate before, during and after an event.

Mental Health

You cannot have a safe school unless you address mental health. Pre-pandemic numbers showed that 1 in 13 of Kansas kids would attempt suicide. In a post pandemic world, we are seeing a huge increase in need to address the mental health of not only our students, but staff members as well. This strand will explore the challenges of normalizing and receiving mental health services in our schools and beyond.

Safety

While this is a broad strand, it is important to note that the overall safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and schools can be affected both positively and negatively very easily. We need to focus on how to build the preparedness capacity (including prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts) of schools and school districts. This strand will focus on the overall efforts to keep our schools safe from a physical standpoint, as well as building positive climate/culture in our buildings.

Social Emotional/Trauma Informed Care

In a world where kids can be exposed to just about anything via social media and the internet, it is still important to remember that we are still dealing with children. Whether it be in our day-to-day interactions, the required school safety drills or with how to debrief with students about traumatic events, this strand will focus on the best way to keep our students and staff safe.

Registration for two full days of training is $75 (meals not included). Participants will have a 90-minute lunch break to allow time to go out to eat.

For registration and lodging information, click here. For the conference schedule, click here.

If you have questions, please contact:

• John Calvert jcalvert@ksde.org
• Jim Green jgreen@ksde.org
• Kyle Lord klord@ksde.org