Michele Gay turned tragedy into teaching, as she recounted the loss of her daughter, Josephine, in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting at the opening keynote during the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference.
Now the co-founder and executive director of Safe and Sound Schools, Gay discussed Friday afternoon her personal journey and how she overcame a point in her life when she couldn’t see a future after the murder of her daughter, 19 of her classmates, and six school staff members. What helped her, she said, was rethinking school safety with another mother, Alyssa Parker, who also lost her daughter in the shooting.
Gay, who started her career as a special education teacher at age 21, said she had no training for how to keep children safe. She noted that the school district and those of the companies at the conference have something stated in their mission statements relating to safety. Yet, many forget to mention the how.
“Our Super Bowl is safe kids at school,” Gay said as she showed a chart outlining the framework for a comprehensive school safety plan and development.
She noted that if a child has a monitor or aide, often those school employees are viewed as the sole safety plan. However, she cautioned that mentality as when it comes to safety, “We’re all in this together.”
School safety is everybody’s job, and it’s the core of what people do. She explained that safety is more than procedures owned by one team and it must be embedded across all aspects of school districts. She advised rethinking how safety is taught, and said that it should be developmentally appropriate, low-stress and skill-based.
Don’t DIY safety, she said, adding that it’s important to coordinate and comply. Be vocal about safety and work through codes and compliance with experts and partners. A properly secured door, for example, is a simple but powerful layer of protection. Gay asked those in the room to be loud when it comes to student safety to and represent what they know.
Keep it simple and non-sensational was another message she encouraged throughout her keynote. Use clear, action-oriented language and minimal supporting icons, she said. Avoid evocative images or drama that create trauma; focus on behaviors and steps kids can take.
She broke down the key considerations for creating a safety plan.
- Ask the experts: Who are the experts on your students and your community? In terms of transportation, she said it’s usually the school bus drivers who know the children the best.
- All-Hazards Approach: Be prepared for anything. Comprehensive planning, skills and knowledge building, and generalization of skills.
- Teaching before Training: Equipping students, building confidence and trust, setting up for successful drills and exercises, building the life skills of safety. Gay said it’s not about pop quizzes, but instead talking to students beforehand on what the training entails and why the bus is built a certain way, for example.
- Skills for Life: Tools in the toolbox. Increases safety across settings and circumstances.
- No Drama, No Trauma: Focus on skills and behaviors. Skip the sensorial and sensational. Avoid evocative images. Consider your words. What do you want students to do if they’re in danger? She noted it’s not just about doing an evacuation drill, but instead talking about the behavior and steps that students need to take.
- Words Matter: Keep it simple. Use action-oriented words. Avoid dramatic words and phrases. Support text with simple images (icons, symbols) and keep them to three. Like Stop, drop and roll. Everyone remembers this saying, but how many actually had to do it?
If you can’t get on board with all those considerations, where do we start, she asked. She said it’s about meeting students where they are. She discussed the ladder of levels, where students can be on different rings based on their age and abilities. Use the ladder to tailor expectations and training intensity, Gay advised.
In terms of training exceptional students, she said standard plans often miss students with disabilities or unique needs. Her daughter Josphine had many exceptional abilities, as she called them, she was diagnosed with autism and later with global apraxia and apraxia of speech. Gay advised creating individualized, portable plans so any staff (including substitutes) know the supports required.
The inclusive safety planning six-step process includes:
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- Gather your team
- Identify specific needs
- Build individual Teams
- Create an ISP
- Share the plan
- Preview and adjust
Related: Download App for 2025 TSD Conference
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James Page, director of transportation for Putnam City Schools in Oklahoma, shared with STN following the keynote that he found the emergency plans for students with disabilities as his biggest takeaway.
“It was something that in the 20-plus years that I’ve been in school transportation that I’ve never thought about,” Page said. “It was eye-opening to see that. So as soon as I hit the ground Wednesday morning back at my district, that’s going to be one of the first things that I’m going to be working with my SPED department about. Sitting down and coming up with evacuation plans for our special education students.”
Gay also discussed the importance of transportation being involved in the student-parent reunification process and emergency planning. She recommended attendees engage in tabletop exercises, something that can be done on the school bus. For instance, ask students if the school bus was to catch fire right now, what would they do?
She noted it’s important to communicate with families and staff during crises, planning out how to speak with one another. She advised against one off, dramatic messaging for kids and instead recommended repeated, skill-based learning.
Overall, Gay advised attendees to start small and collaborate. Gather your team, introduce simple action words and icons, run low-stress practice, then expand it to scale, she said. Action checklists include forming a multi-disciplinary team (including transportation), inventory students’ access/functional needs, draft quick individual safety plans, practice tabletop scenarios on buses and standardize simple action-based messaging for each developmental level.
