Hamilton School District encourages students to use the Speak Up, Speak Out threat reporting system to share concerns that arise outside of normal school hours. Speak Up, Speak Out was created by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety (OSS) and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Hamilton High School encouraged students to use Speak Up, Speak Out during the 2024-25 school year. The threat reporting system has now been introduced to younger students at both Templeton Middle School and Silver Spring Intermediate School. This fall, School Resource Officers Deputy Leah Estes and Deputy Alex Arteaga visited classrooms with school principals and school counselors to talk to students about how to submit a Speak Up, Speak Out tip. Families are also encouraged to explore speakup.widoj.gov with their children.
Tips are used to identify not just threats to schools, but also other daily safety concerns students encounter such as bullying, drug use, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and more. The Speak Up, Speak Out resource center is staffed around the clock to respond to tips and deploy a local community response by communicating with school administrators, law enforcement and counselors.
Tips can be submitted anonymously by telephone, mobile app or via the Speak Up, Speak Out website. It is free and available for all community members to use.
Call: 1-800-MY-SUSO-1
Text: “SUSO” to 738477
Visit: speakup.widoj.gov
Speak Up, Speak Out gives students the tools to break the culture of silence and connect with adult authorities who can help. According to the Wisconsin DOJ, threats of retaliation and stigmatization often discourage students from reporting the dangerous behaviors of their peers. Research from the U.S. Secret Service shows that in 81% of violent incidents in U.S. schools, someone other than the attacker knew of the plan but failed to report it. Speak Up, Speak Out aims to eliminate this culture of silence by providing a confidential, collaborative communication system where students and authorities can work together to respond to school safety threats.