Rep. Donovan hosts security officials for school safety roundtable

Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) hosted on Monday senior officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), New York City Police Department (NYPD), and the New York City Department of Education (DOE) for a roundtable discussion on school safety.

“No parent should drop a child off at school and fear for his or her safety,” Donovan, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications, said. “I asked the nation’s leading security experts to come to our community and share their perspectives. NYPD and DOE officials also had the opportunity to discuss their initiatives and, most importantly, identify opportunities for partnership with the federal government.”

Robert Kolasky, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary of the National Protection and Program Directorate’s Office of Infrastructure Protection, outlined at the meeting measures DHS is taking to improve school safety. These measures include adapting the “See something, say something” program to make it usable in a school setting and analyzing the school threat environment to enable earlier intervention. The Secret Service is also participating in these research efforts. DHS is also sponsoring response and recovery tabletop exercises and workshops to help school districts create plans for mitigating damage during and after an active shooter event.

FEMA also recently launched its “Until Help Arrives” campaign to provide training on how to administer first aid to victims while waiting for first responders to arrive.