The School Safety Advocacy Council (SSAC) was established in 2004 with the goal of providing the highest quality school safety consulting, training, and emergency management services to school districts, law enforcement agencies and communities. The Council was founded by Curtis Lavarello and Sean Burke who left their positions as Executive Director and President of the National Association of School Resource Officers respectively to expand beyond the singular approach of relying on law enforcement as the solution for school violence and safety to a cooperative approach which includes all stakeholders.

The School Safety Advocacy Council is the recognized leader in school safety services and training. The Council is the host of the largest conference in the nation addressing all aspects of school safety, the Annual National School Safety Conference and Exposition, which in 2024 will be our twentieth anniversary conference. As part of our effort to include all stakeholders in solutions we partner with D.A.R.E, the National Association of School and Campus Police Chiefs, and the National School Plant Management Association for this annual conference which draws approximately 1,400 professionals from around the world. In addition to the National School Safety Conference, we are also the host of the National Conference on Active School Threats and the National Executive Leadership School Safety Academy, both focused on education and law enforcement working together to improve school safety and emergency response. We are the only school safety organization to be selected to proudly partner with the Federal Bureau of Investigations  National Academy Associates (FBINA) to present active school shooter training nationwide.

The School Safety Advocacy Council was the only organization selected by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice and its Centers, the Justice Technology Information Center, and the Small Rural Tribal Boarder Center, to provide school safety subject matter expert consultation to school districts and law enforcement agencies nationwide. One school safety project authored and designed by SSAC for the USDOJ Justice Technology Information Center, was the School Safe App, which guides school administrators and law enforcement officers through the process of conducting their own school safety assessment. Using this app with content that we developed, a school administrator can complete an assessment form, research all pertinent school safety information, and best practices, and then print a report to be used as a needs priority resource to improve their school safety efforts and emergency response capabilities.

The School Safety Advocacy Council possesses unmatched experience and knowledge in improving district-wide school safety. Having successfully completed facility safety assessments, consulting, and training projects for districts such as Los Angeles Unified School District (2nd largest district in nation), Clark County School District (4th  largest district in nation), Wake County Public Schools (15th  largest district in nation), and Washoe County School District (59th  largest district in nation) exemplifies the skills and abilities only the School Safety Advocacy Council possess. Working with districts and schools such as Diocese of St. Petersburg Office of Catholic Schools, University of Florida PK Yonge School, the Loveland Classical Charter Schools, and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind highlights our ability to work effectively within any educational setting.