From the Training:
Certified Safe & Loved Practitioner

On September 24, 2026, a woman walked into a Milwaukee high school, claimed to be a substitute teacher, and was placed in a classroom with students.

According to prosecutors, she then spent class time insulting, humiliating, and making sexually inappropriate comments to them.

Here is what we know from reports about the incident:

We should use this moment to take a good look at ourselves.

Which steps do we sometimes skip?
What corners do we routinely cut?
What do we assume someone else has checked?
What safety measures aren’t consistently followed? 

I can see exactly how this could have happened. 

The phones are ringing, students need help, teachers are absent, and someone is standing in front of you who appears ready to fill a position you desperately need filled. She steps up, smiles, and says she’s a sub for today. 

We all know what it feels like to be busy, distracted, or stretched too thin.
But those are precisely the days our safety practices must be followed. 

To protect ourselves from making a mistake. 

In protecting students, we carry an unfair burden.
We must be right every time. The threat only has to be right once. 

That is an exhausting standard. 

And why these incidents are so frustrating. We know how much effort goes into protecting students every day. But we also know that someone looking for an opportunity only needs the opening in front of them. 

This is why consistency matters so much in school safety. 

A procedure that seems unnecessary on an ordinary morning may be the very thing that prevents a terrible morning. We don’t get advance notice of which day we will need it most so we must follow it every day. 

It’s important to point out that the students reported this person. 

That’s a huge win! 

These students need to be celebrated.
They did exactly what was expected of them. 

I’m proud of them!
And I’m also proud of the school. 

Yes, there was a failure in procedures but the students felt comfortable and vulnerable enough to tell adults that they had been mistreated. 

We teach students to respect adults, follow directions, and listen to their teachers. It is no small indicator of the level of trust in the school that these students came forward. That only happens when adults prove they can be trusted. 

Last point. 

Those who want to hurt us want to get to the students. School attacks are nothing but a fight to get into the classroom—to the students. Anyone who gets access to the students must be confirmed, as much as is possible, not to be a threat. 

Slow down. Take your time. Follow your procedures and above all, control access to the students. 

They are the prize, the hero of the story, and deserve our best effort.