> DOWNLOAD: School Administrators Frequently Asked Questions - WORD DOCUMENT
To maintain the integrity and purpose of the program, the Student Safety Act strictly prohibits the disclosure of a tipster's identity. This confidentiality is fundamental to ensuring that students feel safe and empowered to speak up without fear of retaliation.
Under Michigan law, a tipster’s identity may only be disclosed under the following limited circumstances:
If a prosecuting attorney has reason to believe that a report or other information provided to OK2SAY was falsely submitted, they may petition the court to disclose the report or related information, including any identifying details.
While the vast majority of tips are submitted in good faith, the program recognizes that misuse—such as submitting fake tips as a prank or to harm someone—wastes valuable emergency resources and can be intimidating for those wrongly implicated.
While maintaining the confidentiality of tipsters is crucial for the effectiveness of the OK2SAY tipline, there are circumstances where revealing the tipster's identity may be necessary. In such cases, the court may order disclosure of identifying information through a defined legal process.
If school officials suspect a tip was deliberately falsified, the following steps should be taken in collaboration with law enforcement and prosecuting authorities:
The core mission of OK2SAY is to ensure every student has a safe, confidential way to report concerns about their own safety or the safety of others. Even when an incident happens after school, on the weekend, or off campus, it can still have a profound impact on a student’s well-being, relationships, and ability to focus and thrive at school.
When OK2SAY receives a tip, it forwards the information to appropriate contacts—including school officials—so that trusted adults are aware and can provide support if needed. Challenges that arise at home, online, or in the community often carry over into the classroom, and awareness helps schools respond with understanding, compassion, and early intervention.
Not every tip requires immediate action, but being informed allows school staff—such as counselors, social workers, and administrators—to recognize changes in behavior, check in with the student, and connect them with resources.
If a tip indicates an immediate threat to safety, OK2SAY promptly involves law enforcement and notifies the school for urgent response. For all other concerns, the information is shared carefully and thoughtfully to promote prevention and support.
OK2SAY’s goal is not to create unnecessary work for schools, but to make sure no warning sign is overlooked, and no student ever faces serious concerns alone.
OK2SAY technicians make every effort to collect complete and accurate information from the tipster but conversations can end abruptly.
When this happens, OK2SAY technicians will continue attempting to reach the tipster to obtain additional details. If the tipster stops responding after a reasonable period of time, OK2SAY will still forward the available information to the appropriate school contacts to ensure the concern is not overlooked.
If your school has specific questions or needs additional information to address the situation effectively, please contact OK2SAY. The technicians are more than willing to try to re-establish contact with the tipster and obtain the details your school needs.
Most schools use robust security networks (firewalls and filters) to protect against malware and unauthorized intrusions. While essential, these systems are unintentionally blocking OK2SAY technicians from communicating with student tipsters, severely impacting our ability to gather vital follow-up details.
To ensure we can effectively communicate with students and gather complete, tip details, we strongly urge school technology leadership to whitelist the following official OK2SAY email addresses/domains in your security system:
Allowing these addresses will remove communication barriers, enabling our technicians to obtain the full context when a tip is submitted through the app or website. This, in turn, allows us to provide school administrators with more complete, timely, and actionable details.
Yes. Submitting an Outcome Report for every tip is a necessary step that allows us to formally close out the incident in the system. The Outcome Report serves as a final check to gather essential information on what actions were taken at the local level. This often includes details like contact made, resolution steps, referrals to support services, or finding that the tip was unfounded.
Additionally, the aggregate data from Outcome Reports is vital for evaluating the effectiveness of the OK2SAY program, helping us ensure we are providing the most actionable support to schools statewide.
OK2SAY operates on the principle that information has no expiration date when it comes to student well-being.
It is common for administrators to receive OK2SAY tips in September regarding events that took place over the summer. While the incident may have passed, the impact of that event may still be affecting a student’s choices, behavior, or mental health in the fall.
Here why those delayed reports may still be vital:
A tip about the past is often a tool to protect the future.
OK2SAY may not be aware that the situation has already been resolved. Tipsters often do not update us once a concern has been addressed, and due to confidentiality, they may not know what actions the school has taken.
To ensure student safety and clear communication, OK2SAY forwards all relevant tip information to the appropriate school officials or authorities, even if the issue may have already been handled. This allows administrators to have complete context, offer any needed support, and confirm that students remain safe and supported.
If the matter has already been investigated and resolved by your school, please complete the Outcome Report for OK2SAY to finalize the tip resolution.
OK2SAY believes it is important for school administrators to be informed about potential safety or well-being concerns, even if the event being reported occurred weeks or months earlier.
Although the incident may no longer be active, the underlying concern could still affect the students or others involved. In many cases, sharing the information simply provides context or awareness that may help school staff better understand and support a student if related issues arise later.
Michigan law requires the governing body of every public and nonpublic school to provide the Department of State Police with at least one school official's emergency contact information biannually. This information will allow OK2SAY to efficiently communicate with school personnel.
The emergency after-hours contact information is kept confidential and accessed only if there is an after-hours emergency involving imminent danger to the safety or well-being of a student.
Schools can update or verify their designated after-hours emergency contact information by visiting OK2SAY.com.
If a tip does not involve an immediate life-threatening situation and the student is safe, the school will be contacted the next business day during regular hours.
When a tip indicates a potential life-safety threat or a crime in progress, OK2SAY takes immediate action to ensure the safety of everyone involved, which may involve contacting law enforcement directly. In most situations, the OK2SAY team makes every effort to reach the school’s designated emergency contact to coordinate a timely and informed response.
This approach reflects several key considerations:
If you are listed as an OK2SAY Emergency Contact, please save the OK2SAY Technician Desk number (517-284-3020) in your phone contacts. This simple step ensures you can quickly recognize calls from the program, preventing them from being missed or going to voicemail.
If you miss a call or need to return one, contact OK2SAY at 517-284-3137 to speak directly with a technician for assistance.
If OK2SAY receives a tip that provides reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect, OK2SAY will submit a report to Children’s Protective Services (CPS).
Additionally, OK2SAY will notify appropriate school officials so they are aware of the concern and can provide necessary support to the student.
⚠️ OK2SAY reporting does not relieve mandated reporters of their legal duty.
Even if OK2SAY has submitted a report to CPS, school personnel and other individuals who are mandated reporters retain their personal legal obligation to contact CPS if they suspect a student has been abused or neglected.
In short, if you are a mandated reporter and you suspect abuse, you must file a report yourself, regardless of whether you know a tip was submitted to OK2SAY.
