Success Story
How Temecula Valley USD Empowers Students and Prevents Crises with Let’s Talk
Temecula Valley USD uses Let’s Talk to improve student safety, mental health, and trust, resolving 1,130+ reports with fast, caring support.
May 1, 2022SUCCESS STORY SUMMARY
Challenge:
Temecula Valley USD (CA) needed a way to proactively address rising concerns around student safety, bullying, and mental health before crises could escalate.
Solution:
The district implemented Let’s Talk, giving students, staff, and families an anonymous, always-on platform to report bullying, threats, and mental health concerns—triggering real-time alerts and swift intervention.
Results:
With more than 1,130 reports submitted since launch, Let’s Talk has helped TVUSD build trust, respond rapidly to potential crises, and foster a safer, more supportive school environment.
CHALLENGE
Located in California, between San Diego and Los Angeles, Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) serves nearly 28,000 students across 28 schools. Like districts nationwide, TVUSD faced increasing concerns around student safety, bullying, and a growing mental health crisis.
“Our leadership has a real passion for wanting to hear from the community and find opportunities to engage with our parents in the 21st-century environment,” said Laura Boss, public information officer at TVUSD.
In an era where 1 in 5 students are bullied, 1 in 11 teens have attempted suicide, and 37% have experienced cyberbullying, the district recognized the urgent need for a safe, confidential way for students to report threats, mental health struggles, and other concerns, before situations escalated.
“Let’s Talk, when used as a reporting platform, gives a voice: a voice to a student who’s being bullied; a voice to a bystander who has seen bullying and doesn’t know what to do about it; a voice to a parent who has heard their child talk about being bullied, but doesn’t know how to address it at the school,” said Kelly Gradstein, assistant director of Student Welfare and Success at TVUSD.
SOLUTION
In 2017, TVUSD partnered with K12 Insight to launch Let’s Talk, a unified service desk purpose-built for K-12, as part of its Because Nice Matters anti-bullying campaign and broader mental health strategy.
Let’s Talk gives students, staff, and families a dedicated, always-available virtual space to report bullying, safety concerns, and mental health issues, anonymously if they choose. Reports can be submitted via web, mobile, or text and are routed in real time to the appropriate staff members.
“It was a sigh of relief we had something in place, an outlet somebody could use to report something like this,” Boss said. “I’m proud of the students who felt comfortable and safe in coming and reporting this.”
“When an anonymous report is made about a student in crisis, or a potential school threat of violence, it comes through as a Critical Alert. This allows us to respond immediately, which saves lives,” Gradstein said.
In one powerful instance, a student used Let’s Talk to alert administrators about a social media post suggesting a classmate was considering suicide. The alert came through within seconds, prompting immediate intervention.
RESULTS
Since implementing Let’s Talk, TVUSD has received more than 1,130 inquiries related to bullying, threats, and mental health concerns from over 1,060 unique users. Each submission is tracked through the Let’s Talk dashboard, which helps administrators monitor response times, follow issue resolution, and collaborate across departments.
“District leadership cannot personally take on every piece or layer of the incident process that might occur, but this gives them an opportunity to always be in the loop,” Boss said. “They know exactly who is taking care of it, what the status is, and what the end result is.”
By using Let’s Talk’s anonymous reporting and Critical Alerts features, the district is proactively identifying and addressing issues before they escalate. This approach builds a culture where students know their voices matter and trust that action will be taken.
TVUSD’s ongoing use of Let’s Talk supports a safer, more responsive school environment through continuous, equitable, and accessible communication.
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