Office of School Safety – Meet Our Team

Trish Kilpin was appointed as Director in the Office of School Safety in February of 2022. Prior to serving in this position, she was a school social worker for over 30 years. Trish earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was named the Wisconsin School Social Worker's Association's School Social Worker of the Year in 1997, and Wisconsin Teacher of the Year in 2021. She is a certified National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) PREPaRE 1 and 2 Trainer, a Sources of Strength Trainer, and a National Threat Evaluation and Reporting Office (NTER) Master Trainer.

Susan Whitstone, Deputy Director of the Office of School Safety and with the Office of School Safety since 2018.  She has nearly 25 years’ experience in the Criminal Justice arena to include over 7 years teaching tertiary education.  Susan started her criminal justice career in Green Bay at the Green Bay Correctional Institution as a student at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.  At the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay she received the honored Chancellor’s Medallion and high honors.  After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Public Administration, she quickly promoted to Lieutenant with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department.  During her tenure with Waukesha she received her Master’s Degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Criminal Justice Administration.  Susan is a master threat assessment trainer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, trained by the I Love You Guys Foundation in standard response protocol and standard reunification method and led the development of the statewide school threat reporting system- Speak Up Speak Out Wisconsin.

With over 10 years of Law Enforcement experience withthe Dane COunty Sheriff's Office, Milton Police Department and Janesville Police Department, Corey joins OSS as the SUSO manager. During his LE career he has been a training officer, mentor, Peer Support team member and Search and Recovery Dive Team member. Corey has an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from Blackhawk Technical College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Administration/Emergency Management from Upper Iowa Universary. He has also attended and completed the FEMA Basic Emergency Management Academy at Wisconsin Emergency Management. 

Jacob Dorff currently serves as the Office of School Safety (OSS) Grant Specialist. Before joining OSS in May 2022, his work experience included time spent in Risk Management, public sector finance, and nonprofit operations. Jacob earned his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Master's in Public Administration from the University of South-Florida.

In February 2021, Kelly DeJonge joined the Office of School Safety as the Critical Incident Response Coordinator. Prior to joining the OSS, Kelly was a law enforcement officer in a suburb of Milwaukee County for 21+ years. During her career in law enforcement, Kelly gained experience in various positions at the department including: Patrol Officer, School Resource Officer, Community Outreach Officer/Crime Prevention and Public Information Officer.  While working as the School Resource Officer, Kelly obtained a strong passion for school safety and believes that education will be hindered if students and staff do not feel safe in their school buildings.  In 2014, Kelly began to serve on the Board of Directors for the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). In addition to serving on the board, Kelly is a certified NASRO Instructor and Past President of the Wisconsin Juvenile Officers Association.  Kelly spends her free time traveling with her family and taking part in organized running or cycling events.  

Susan Williams recently began at the Office of School Safety as a Threat Assessment Coordinator. Prior to this, she worked across all levels as a school psychologist for over 30 years. Susan received her Bachelor of Science and Master's Degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. In 2017, she became certified by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) as a Trainer or Trainers for the PREPaRE 1 and PREPaRE 2 crisis prevention and response curriculum. She has been a leading member of both district and building level crisis, safety, and threat assessment teams. Over the past 5 years, Susan has had the privilege of training teams of administrators, pupil service teams and other school staff from rural, suburban, and urban settings around school safety topics.

Paul Spoerl serves as Program and Policy Analyst-Advanced for the Office of School Safety. Before joining OSS he served as a Program Analyst and Budget Analyst with the Wisconsin National Guard in various directorates and worked in Law Enforcement. He is still currently a member of the Wisconsin National Guard, graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice from UW-Oshkosh and the Law Enforcement academy at NWTC. Some of his prior training and courses include Active Shooter Training, Advanced Situational Awareness, Safety classes and Officer Candidate School. Paul enjoys spending time with his family, spending time outdoors and sports.