The School Safety Working Group (SSWG), organized under SB20-023 and HB22-1274, completed their legislatively mandated work in 2023. A collaboration of the state agencies that provide resources to schools, the group was tasked with:
- Studying and implementing feedback of the state auditor's report regarding school safety released in September 2019;
- Considering program organization and recommending reorganization if necessary;
- Identifying shared metrics to examine program effectiveness;
- Facilitating interagency coordination and communication;
- Increasing transparency and accessibility of state grants and resources, particularly for school districts without a grant writer, which includes improving outreach and may include developing common grant applications;
- Facilitating and addressing data sharing, including allowable data sharing at the local level, when appropriate and allowable under state and federal law; and
- Addressing school safety program challenges in a coordinated way.
The final report of this stage of the work is attached here. Both the Office of School Safety and the Colorado Department of Education will facilitate completion of many of the SSWG's recommendations and continue the statewide collaborations.
Please direct any questions about this work to Christine.harms@state.co.us or 303-912-6915. Thank you.