The Southeast Missouri School Safety Center is operating under a grant from the Region E Homeland Security Oversight Committee and is charged with providing school safety training and information to public and private K-12 school districts in the 17 counties of southeast Missouri.

The Southeast Missouri School Safety Center will work with the statewide Center for Educational Safety (CES) in providing continuous training for school safety coordinators and to strengthen school safety preparedness and emergency response capabilities.

Higher education institutions within the Region E area are also welcome to suggest training opportunities that would be of benefit to their staff and students. A timely school safety newsletter will be mailed to all superintendents and safety coordinators within Region E and a website will be maintained with information on a variety of school safety issues available for downloads for any interested participant. Links to other school safety sites and individuals will be available including Homeland Security for the State of Missouri, CERT officials in southeast Missouri, Missouri CES, Region E committee members, FEMA and SEMA officials and websites, "Ready in 3" school safety information from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and a variety of other public and school safety internet information.

The emphasis of Missouri's Homeland Security program has been on a regional focus. Working through the Regional Homeland Security Committee (RHSOC) for southeast Missouri, the state focus is to stress the safety and security needs of a variety of disciplines in the nine regions of the State of Missouri. Education is one of the core disciplines of each region of the state. The Southeast Missouri School Safety Center, located in Cape Girardeau, will address the safety and security of the public and private school districts in Region E in southeast Missouri.