Thomas (Tom) Shattuck, director of the Office of Security and Emergency Management, and Robert Jamieson, executive director of Student Support Services, presented a progress update on school security and mental-health supports tied to recommendations from a 2018 Blue Ribbon panel.

Shattuck said the Office of Security and Emergency Management (OSEM) will complete divisionwide rollout of the RAVE alert system to all staff by January 2026 and install mass-notification devices and LED message boards in buildings to improve emergency notification and accessibility. He described ongoing unannounced safety audits, expanded access-control devices that use ID-card-based entry, and a 14% increase in cameras since 2019 as part of technology upgrades to support real-time monitoring and analytics. Shattuck also described staffing changes: assignment of a second security officer to every elementary school, expansion of the Armed School Security Officer 2 program and in-house certification training for 275 security assistants.

Robert Jamieson said the division has increased allocations for psychologists, behavior intervention specialists and school counselors and has made hiring progress; the creation of a psychometrist position helped widen the hiring pool and the division reported only one vacancy remaining across psychologist allocations. Jamieson described division partnerships with agencies and programs including Handle With Care, use of 988, coordination with the Marcus Alert protocol, and joint training and scenario exercises with the Virginia Beach Police Department. The division’s mental-health task force and quarterly school-safety task force meetings remain active components of ongoing work.

Shattuck and Jamieson told the board that some operational details that could reveal vulnerabilities will be withheld from public disclosure, and they offered to provide additional, nonpublic briefings as needed for security partners.