Final Report 2001-2002 Ventura County Grand Jury Safety and Security in Ventura County High Schools

Conclusions 2

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  C-1. All high schools the Grand Jury visited have Safe Schools plans in place and do the required notifi cation ofparents and students of the school’s and district’s rules and regulations. (F-1, F-2, F-4, F-5) C-2. Although all visited high schools have the required evacuation, lock down, and disaster plans, some of these schools need to factor into their plans specifi cally what students and staff are to do in the event of an incident happening during lunch or a passing period. (F-2) C-3. Emergency or disaster drills held and evaluated by the school’s safety com- mittee at various times throughout the school year help to prepare for the “real thing”. (F-3) C-4. Although all visited high schools have procedures in place to screen visi- tors and restrict campus entry by unauthorized persons, some of the schools the Grand Jury visited were open campus schools with no fencing and were not as secure from unauthorized entry as schools with a closed or fenced campus. (F-6, F-7, F-29) C-5. Effective perimeter fencing surrounding school property enables the campus to be more secure from unauthorized entry both during and after school hours. (F-6, F-18, F-28, F-29) C-6. Schools in locations that are perceived to be safer locations by both school administration, school district and the community are not as safe as schools where the school administration, district, local law enforcement and community have taken the attitude of “we are Columbine,” and have prepared accordingly. (F-28, F-29, F-33)
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  Final Report 2001-2002 Ventura County Grand Jury C-7. High schools where safety and security are a lower priority are located in areas where demographics and location make them “seem safer”. (F-28, F-29) C-8. Some high schools that are of older construction lack the equipment nec- essary to come to the same degree of safety as other schools in the same school district and need funding to be brought up to parity. (F-18, F-22, F-23, F-34) C-9. The presence of a law enforcement SRO on a high school campus on a full time basis, serves to be not only a deterrent to inappropriate conduct but also tends to have students be willing participants in maintaining a safe and secure school environment. (F-15) C-10. The employment of campus security personnel, in addition to administra- tors, performing security tasks prior to, during and after school hours, with the ability to rapidly deploy when necessary, is a must in maintaining a safe and secure school environment. (F-16, F-23) C-11. Schools that staff a school nurse, nurse’s assistant, or health aide and have adequate staff certifi ed in fi rst aid and CPR, and know who needs to be certifi ed, are better prepared to handle emergencies. (F-13, F-14) C-12. Peer counseling or mediation is an effective way to resolve student con- fl icts. (F-10) C-13. The “Teen Court” program is an effective way of dispensing justice to stu- dent offenders while familiarizing participating classes and students with the judicial system. (F-12) C-14. Hand held radios become more effective when all schools in a district are able to tune to a district-wide frequency. (F-21) C-15. School buildings that are numbered or somehow identifi ed on rooftops are much easier for law enforcement to locate when aircraft surveillance or response becomes necessary. (F-25) C-16. Schools or districts that perform regular but random checks for weapons have found this to be an effective way of both detection and deterrence. However districts and schools that rely on observation of student behavior or student informants and conduct no other procedures of detection are at risk. (F-8, F-9) C-17. Schools that use private security company dogs or local law enforcement K- 9 units to perform searches for weapons in and around a school’s campus offer both better detection of, and deterrence of the possession of such items. (F-9)

Agency Responses 1

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.