Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener has been asked to participate in a White House conference on school violence this week in Washington D.C. Following a flood of school violence nationwide that resulted in tragic student deaths, President George W. Bush announced the conference to focus on issues of student safety in schools.

The conference, hosted by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, will bring together experts in the fields of education and law enforcement from across the country. The President and First Lady Laura Bush are expected to attend part of the conference.

The first contact with Sheriff Wegener's office came on Friday, October 7th, in a call from the office of Gregory Jacob, Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. On Saturday, Wegener received a follow up call from Melinda Morgan, Director with the office of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to confirm attendance and travel plans. When contacted for comment on Sunday, Wegener said, "If it helps bring funding to school security, I'm all for it and happy to be a part of it."

Sheriff Wegener will fly to Washington early Monday morning and attend a meeting at the White House that afternoon before returning to his hotel in Bethesda. The conference of educators and law enforcement representatives will convene on Tuesday, October 10. The goal of the conference is to identify what steps the federal government can take to enhance school safety and help communities deal with the aftermath of violent events.

Wegener will return to Colorado on Tuesday night.