STN EXPO Reno Keynote Speaker Identifies Risk Factors Onboard the School Bus

June 9, 2023

SallieJo Evers, the comprehensive school safety coordinator for Northeast Educational Services District 101 in Washington state, spoke to STN EXPO attendees on July 18, 2022 on the importance of creating safety plans. (Photo by Vincent Rios Creative.)

School psychologist John Van Dreal is bringing a timely message to STN EXPO Reno on how transportation professionals can identify risk factors on their school buses as well as prevention strategies for aggressive behavior.

The keynote session “Youth Aggression: Identifying Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies on the School Bus” will be held on Tuesday, July 18 during the STN EXPO Reno Conference in Reno, Nevada.

With 35 years of experience in threat assessment and management, crisis and behavioral intervention, and psycho-educational evaluation, Van Dreal will discuss how to train your transportation departments to recognize potential threats and strategies for violence prevention. He will show attendees how to quickly identify signs of aggressive behavior or potential attacks through reading body language and other cues as well as how to de-escalate the situation safely and effectively.

He will also speak on how student transportation professionals can advocate for school districts to implement a threat assessment system, if one is not already in place. Van Dreal plans to show why every employee on the district payroll should be informed and trained in violence prevention even if they’re not on the threat assessment team.

Van Dreal began developing and implementing the Salem-Keizer Cascade Model, a multi-agency student threat assessment system, in 1999 for Salem-Kaiser School District in Oregon. He retired from the school district in 2019 after a 27-year career there as a school psychologist and director of safety and risk management services. He has continued to work closely with law enforcement, school districts, legal personnel and mental health staff on a daily basis as a consultant.

In addition to consulting and training, Van Dreal is also an author of three books as well as a supporter of nonprofit arts and human services organizations in his community.

Save $100 on conference registration with the Early Bird Discount, valid through June 9. Visit stnexpo.com/west to register.