FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWS
Macoupin County Leaders Meet to Ensure Safe Schools
Area Parents Should Be Assured Their Students are Protected, Officials Say After Meeting
Date: Dec. 21, 2012 Contact: ROE Superintendent Larry Pfeiffer 217-854-4016

Carlinville Local law enforcement and school officials are on the same page in protecting students in area classrooms, officials said in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Connecticut. Macoupin County Sheriff Don Albrecht and Regional Office of Education #40 Superintendent Larry Pfeiffer co- sponsored a meeting in Carlinville this week to discuss and review local school safety procedures. Educators from Macoupin County joined law enforcement and school safety experts to discuss school safety and efforts that are in place between law enforcement and local schools to enhance safety for our children. It was a great conversation today between people that care about our children and their safety, Sheriff Albrecht said afterward. Today, we had experts from around our state and country that specialize in school and event safety, sharing with educators and law enforcement officials strategies for making our schools safe places for our children and teachers. Nearly 40 individuals representing all communities and all schools in Macoupin County participated in the school safety meeting. Both law enforcement and school officials say future trainings for teachers will be critical. Regional Superintendent Pfeiffer assured the group that additional meetings and increased collaboration between local schools and law enforcement will continue. It is the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School that has unified everyone at the meeting today to ensure our schools are safe and nurturing places. Today, we saw a unified and focuses conversation form school administrators and a lot of folks wearing badges that were committed to keeping our schools safe, Pfeiffer said. Sheriff Albrecht and Regional Superintendent Pfeiffer plan to meet regularly with law enforcement and school officials and to provide school safety joint training activities for law enforcement and school personal. Pfeiffer credited local officials for proactively working to improve school safety. For far too long our cops have been speaking in their language and our educators have been using a different type of jargon, Albrecht said. Today, we spoke the simple common sense approach about keeping our kids safe.
About ROE 40 Led by Regional Superintendent Larry Pfeiffer, Regional Office of Education No. 40 represents and serves schools in Calhoun, Greene, Jersey and Macoupin counties in central Illinois. More information can be found at its website: http://roe40.org/. ###