The start of a new year is the perfect time to reflect on all that you have accomplished in the past 12 months and make resolutions for the next year.

Here are new tools available to help:

SITE ASSESS-Free app from the REMS TA Center

Are you planning to check the safety of new or existing school buildings or grounds as a part of an annual safety assessment in 2018? SITE ASSESS, is a mobile iOS- and Android-based application allows school and school district personnel to walk around a school building and its grounds to conduct a comprehensive site assessment. It equips users with information and knowledge about key fundamental site assessment topics; allows users to add locale- and school-specific questions and to skip entire sections that are not applicable to their education agency; generates a customized to-do list that may be used in the short term and long term to address facility improvements; and contains relevant resources on several education facility and safety topics. Information from assessments can be used by school planning teams as they develop high-quality EOPs. Data collected from the assessment not only illuminates the potential threats and hazards that a school may face, but also aids schools in evaluating and comparing the risks and vulnerabilities associated with each threat or hazard. In turn, school planning teams can prioritize threats and hazards to address directly in the school EOP and enhance the school's overall safety and emergency preparedness.

New Fact Sheets on Key Topics in K-12 from the REMS TA Center

• Five Preparedness Mission Area Fact Sheets. Each fact sheet defines the mission area, discusses how the mission area is related to the other mission areas, identifies potential activities falling under each mission area that EOP planning teams may want to consider completing, and describes how these activities can be incorporated into an EOP. Additional resources are provided for each, as well. 
   
  • Prevention for Schools and School Districts
  • Protection for Schools and School Districts
  • Mitigation for Schools and School Districts
  • Response for Schools and School Districts
  • Recovery for Schools and School Districts
   
• Cyber Safety and Cybersecurity Fact Sheets. These fact sheets provide details regarding the types of cyber threats to school, school district, and IHE information technology networks and systems. They describe what education agencies can do to protect systems and networks before, during, and after a cyber incident, and how to create a Cyber Annex as a part of a school or higher ed EOP. 
   
  • Cyber Safety Considerations for K-12 Schools and Districts
  • Cybersecurity Considerations for K-12 Schools and Districts
  • Cybersecurity Considerations for Institutions of Higher Education

The REMS TA Center has many interactive and comprehensive tools to help in your planning efforts.

Title IV, Part A is a newly enacted grant for 2017-2018, known as the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) Grant. Title IV-A is a flexible block grant that authorizes activities in three broad areas: access to a well-rounded education, improving school conditions for learning to ensure safe and healthy students, and improving the use of technology to improve academic achievement and digital literacy. Read More on the DPI's Webpage.

As of today the Title IV Part A application is not yet available in WISEGrants. This is the best place to check for updated information: https://dpi.wi.gov/titleiva/title-iva-application. Questions can be directed to Emily Holder, DPI Education Consultant,  [email protected].