Kim Buckheit
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Maryland Center for School Safety;
2024
Kim Buckheit is currently the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Maryland Center for School Safety (MCSS), supporting efforts to keep Maryland public, nonpublic, and private schools safe for learning and teaching. Prior to her role at MCSS, she was Section Chief for School Climate and Safety at the Maryland State Department of Education. Before moving into state government, she spent 19 years as a public school Principal, serving in local, state, and national leadership positions. Kim was named a “National Distinguished Principal” by NAESP and “Maine Middle Level Principal of the Year” in 2013. NASSP recognized her innovative school leadership in 2014, naming Troy Howard Middle School one of ten “BreakThrough Schools” nationally. She remains a passionate advocate for educational leadership, serving as a mentor, coach, and teacher.
This cannot be thought of as a conference or a summit. The stakes are simply too high and the data/conversation and methods to drive action more valuable/motivating than any gathering I have attended. I took more than 100 pages of notes and have shared them with my CBS News leadership team, anchors, producers, and correspondents. Nothing about this gathering was easy. The agony around this topic is real. But no one curious about it could ask for a more devoted, rational, or unflinching look into this dark but decipherable world.
