Wisconsin Attorney General Announces Head of Office of School Safety

Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 -- 1:00 PM

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced the appointment of Trisha Kilpin to lead the Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of School Safety.

A former Wisconsin teacher of the year, Kilpin comes to DOJ with over 30 years of experience as a school social worker in Greendale, Wisconsin. “Trisha Kilpin has decades of experience in Wisconsin schools, including experience training on and implementing school safety programming. We’re excited to welcome her to lead the DOJ's Office of School Safety, where she’ll be helping to keep schools across the state safe,” said AG Kaul.

“The Office of School Safety has had many successes over the last four years due in no small part to the vision, leadership, and expertise of the office’s current director, Kristen Devitt. Thank you to Director Devitt for her years of work making Wisconsin schools safer.”

As a Greendale School District Social Worker, Trisha Kilpin has been a committed advocate for comprehensive school safety, serving as a leader on district crisis and safety teams.

She also frequently served as an instructor for others outside her district regarding how to keep their schools safe, in her role as an instructor for the National Association of School Psychologists PREPaRE courses and as a leader in threat assessment model practices.

In her former roles, Kilpin was a frequent contributor to OSS initiatives, serving on a work team to develop the Wisconsin Threat Assessment Protocol and on the Crisis Incident Response Team Advisory Committee.

Kilpin balances preventative work by also consulting and leading trainings in Greendale Schools and across Wisconsin on best practices in response and recovery.

Trisha Kilpin earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology and Master of Science in Social Work from University of Wisconsin-Madison and was named the Wisconsin School Social Worker of the Year in 1997. She was named a Wisconsin State Teacher of the Year in 2021.

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