Nebraska School Safety & Security

2026 Winter School Safety & Security Newsletter

MULTI-STATE SUMMIT COMING IN 2026

12 STATES COLLABORATING TO KEEP SCHOOL COMMUNITIES SAFE & SECURE

SAVE THE DATE

October 19th and 20th

Heartland School Safety & Security Summit

Contact jay.martin@nebraska.gov to be added to the mailing list. Then receive the quarterly updates in Nebraska School Safety and Security News. Keep up with the changes and new opportunities revealed every few months.  Also catch up with what you may have missed in prior Newsletters.

On October 16th at this year’s Safety Summit in Lincoln, Bill Jelkin, Executive Director of Student Services & School Safety at Millard Public Schools was announced as this year’s Nebraska’s School Safety & Security Award winner. We had 15 great nominations this year and any one of them could have received the award. The nominees were from schools all over the state.

Here is the list of nominee’s:

• Alison Larsen from Valentine Schools
• BJ Peters from ESU #13’s 21 different Schools
• Bubba Penas from Papillion/LaVista Schools
• Daren Hatch from Elwood Public Schools
• Dr. John Dudley nominated from Seward Public Schools
• Lee Jacobsen from Grand Island Public Schools
• Lt. Dawn Jonas from Crete Public Schools
• Megan Poell from Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools
• Riverside Public Schools Staff/Students/Community
• Officer Rob Brenner SRO for Pound and Scott Middle Schools
• Sara Miriovsky from David City Aquinas Catholic Schools
• South High School Safety Team in Omaha Public Schools
• Bryan High School Safety Team in Omaha Public Schools
• Buena Vista School Safety Team in Omaha Public Schools

Bill has worked above and beyond by providing assistance to the State with the implementation of Safe2Help NE, building model Emergency Operations Plans (EOP) and assisting NDE in the creation of the EOP module, being a key member in the Sarpy County Threat Assessment Team, providing table top exercises for schools to be better prepared, collaboration with first responders, other school districts, and state legislators to work on keeping school communities safe. He has assisted with Suicide Prevention and Psychological First Aid for Schools programs as well as the nurses and counselors within his school district. He is always willing to step up and do what he can to help Millard Public Schools and all Nebraska Schools to be safe and secure.

More information can also be found on our Award webpage.

Thanks again to those who nominated their peers!

All nominee’s received the NDE, School Safety & Security Challenge Coin for their great work in school safety and security and as a token for being recognized as one of our elite school safety personnel in our state!

The National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) invited NDE Director Jay Martin to Washington D.C. to be on a panel and tabletop discussion with other panelist across the United States to discuss School Active Shooter Drills Impact on Mental Health. The NASEM Committee was put together about a year ago under the direction of Congress in response to the growing concern to the psychological toll of school active shooter drills.

The panelist came from a variety of backgrounds from schools, state departments, non-profits, and researchers. The panelist were called into D.C. on August 25th to review the report to give their perspective on the recommendations from the NASEM Committee.

The NASEM committee’s report was released on August 13th.  After the year of research, the committee ultimately landed on nine Report Recommendations surrounding the topic of active shooter drills in schools.

A few key notes Safety Director Martin took from being on the panel and the recommendations suggested were:

• The word ‘rural’ was not utilized in the study as panelist Melissa Sadorf Executive Director of the Arizona Rural Schools Association pointed out. Even though some of the research include was rural it made it was not clearly stated in the research.
• National Certified School Nurse, panelist Robin Cogan, mentioned making sure we invite people from all different stakeholders into the conversation (recommendation #5)…like nurses. She also made mention of changing the word “Threat Assessment” to language that is less evasive.
• Funding was a hot topic -ensuring resources are made available – as this could become potential federal, state or local level legislation, but needs to include funding to support any initiative. (recommendation 4 & 7)
• There should be federal best-practices (recommendation 3)…currently not a lot of research on this topic.
• Any sworn officers in schools should be highly trained in response to developmentally age-appropriate mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs. This was reiterated by the Executive Director for the National Association of School Resource Officers Mo Canady & NDE, Safety Director Martin (recommendation 6)
• Accessibility and addressing disabilities was also a topic for discussion. (Recommendations 8 and 9)
• Recommendation 2 was unanimously agreed upon which states prohibiting the use of high -intensity or high-sensorial simulations and exercises, as well as deception with students and staff. It was mentioned that law enforcement officers should have this type of training, as that is what they signed up for in their position. Students and school staff however should not be put into those scenarios, trainings, or exercises.

Safety Director Martin Emphasis was on Prevention and Preparedness

He stated if we work on more prevention on the root cause for these incidents we will not have to be concerned about response and recovery as much. He mentioned the quote within the study “…integrated within a comprehensive school strategy prioritizing prevention and preparedness and well-being“.  Utilizing trainings like Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and Standard Reunification Method (SRM) to discuss potential school issues that may arise. Using SRP/SRM creates common terminology and discussions around all threats, hazards, and incidents so it is not so focused on one particular situation.

Nebraska’s Schools SRP/SRM trainings & exercises were included in the NASEM study thanks to the UNLPPC research report. The report was due to the NDE School Safety Teams events scheduled across our state with the I Love U Guys Foundation over the course of the last three years.

Mike Donahue Founder of Value-Up

The three things that can change the path of a potential incident in a school are having a Threat Assessment Team, Anonymous Report Services, and a Students Connection to an adult in school. Dr. Scalora and Dr. Bulling have been conducting the Basic Threat Assessment Trainings for schools. Safe2Help NE is the free anonymous report line available to schools utilizing the Boys Town’s call center licensed crisis counselors who are available 24/7 to take reports from students, parents and community members. Now with the Stronger Connections Technical Assistance and Capacity Building (SCTAC) three-year Grant NDE is able to bring Value-Up and Mike Donahue, the founder of the program, to schools across Nebraska. NDE will focus on ESU #13 schools this year.

Mike Donahue is a nationally known speaker living here in Nebraska who has a unique ability to create the connections and relationships between children and adults. After over three decades of working with youth, Mike has come to understand that so many teen issues are directly related to how students view themselves. If a student believes they have high intrinsic value and identify with that high value, they will make life choices that match their perceived value. If you would like to have Value-Up brought to your community or to learn more reach out on Value-Up.