About the Authors

Ron Woodruff: Founder of Prepared Schools

Mr. Woodruff received his Bachelor of Science in Police Science and Administration from Washington State University in 1975. Mr. Woodruff received his teaching credentials from Central Washington University in 1993 and his Master’s in Educational Administration in 1999, also from Central Washington University. Mr. Woodruff is a graduate of the Seattle Police Academy and worked as a police officer/crime scene investigator for the cities of Mercer Island and Cle Elum Washington. Mr. Woodruff has worked in the high school setting for 18 years until his retirement. Mr. Woodruff has merged his law enforcement experience and his educational administrative experience to develop relevant and timely professional development materials on topics related to school safety and security, an area of great concern and interest to him.

Randal Town: School Safety Coordinator (retired)

Educational Service District 105, Yakima, Washington

For 28 years, Mr. Town has worked as a coordinator of intervention services and school safety. He provided crisis management; school safety training, which includes site safety assessments built upon the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design; gang training; technical assistance; and related crisis intervention services for twenty-five public school districts within the ESD 105 region. In addition, he traveled nationally and internationally providing crisis management training for interested school districts and has developed the “Regional Crisis Response Team” in conjunction with all public schools within ESD 105. Mr. Town is the co-developer and co-author of Quick Response, A Step-By-Step Guide to Crisis Management for Principals, Counselors and Teachers, published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Mr. Town worked with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission providing leadership in the development and delivery for School Security Officer Training encompassing the entire State of Washington.

Before retirement Mr. Town was a board member of the Washington School Safety Organization, sat on the Washington State School Safety Advisory Committee, and serve as Co-Chair of the State Gangs and Schools Study Taskforce. In addition to his employment within the educational arena, he was a Yakima County Deputy Sheriff; Reserve Unit, for 21 years and held the rank of Sergeant. As a result of his experience in education and law enforcement, he has been able to link both services together to enhance safety plans, policies, and procedures for schools. He was a recipient of the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office Medal of Valor.

Mr. Town has a B.A. degree in psychology from Central Washington University and a M.Ed in counseling from Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon.