Illinois School Safety Conference Set to Bring Hundreds to New Location Oct. 7
Final preparations are underway for the 2026 Illinois School Safety Conference, which will be held October 7 at its new location at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. Hundreds of attendees have registered for the conference, which brings together school personnel, law enforcement and public safety professionals to learn from experts in school safety and crisis prevention.
West40 hosts the annual conference along with our partners from across the state. The event is free and open to district and school administrators, police and fire departments, transportation directors, safety and emergency managers, educators, and all others interested.
“The free Illinois School Safety Conference has coordinated with 18 education institutions and government agencies to discuss lessons learned with the leading experts on digital threat awareness, cybercrime, active shooter, emergency procedures, behavioral threat assessment, school safety and protocols to first responders, school administrators, emergency managers, directors of security and any other attendees who deal with school safety in the state of Illinois,” said event co-founder Randy Braverman.
Chicago Public Schools is one of the sponsors of this year’s conference.
“School safety is strongest when we work collaboratively. Bringing safety leaders from across school districts creates an opportunity to learn from one another, share what works, and build a common understanding of how we keep students and staff safe. No single person or department can do this work alone,” said Ronan Shableski, Director of Safety for Chicago Public Schools.
Shableski added that the conference is an opportunity to strengthen relationships, knowledge, and shared responsibility to help us create school communities where students feel physically safe, emotionally supported, and connected.
Vendors will also have booths available to answer questions and demonstrate current, new and innovative methods to keep students and school staff members safe.
The Village of Rosemont helped West40 secure the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center for this year’s conference. The village is also a sponsor.
“We’re pleased to be able to offer our facility to be able to host this conference. Looking at the line up of speakers, I think that everybody that comes to this is really seeking some great information on how to make sure that their schools are safe, they’re gonna walk away with something out of this that I think that there’s not many opportunities to do that,” said Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens.
The conference will be held from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 7th. Speakers will include:
Paul Timm, PSP, Director of Education and Safety, Allegion
Steven McDonald, Director of Safety and Development, Safer Schools Together
Brandon Fleming, Award-Winning High Impact Educator, Motivational Speaker, and Author
Lunchtime Safety Panel
Antoinette King, Cybersecurity Expert, Founder, Credo Cyber Consulting
Patrice Whitten, Texas School Principal, Founder of Power of Connections, “When Seconds Matter: Lessons Learned from a School Shooting”
Rob Young, “Forged Under Fire,” Child Survivor of 1989 School Shooting
Additional sponsors include the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois School and Campus Safety Program, Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Kane County Regional Office of Education, Township High School District 211, Illinois School Resource Officers Association, Illinois State Police, School District 89 (Maywood, Melrose Park and Broadview), Joliet Police Department, Grundy/Kendall ROE 24, Summit School District 104, Illinois Association of School Business Officials, Ridgeland School District 122, and Will County Regional Office of Education.
