Orange County Grand Jury
• 2017-2018
• Agency Response
Response to:
Safer Schools – What Can We Do? 05/03/18
Safer Schools - What Can We Do?*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F6
Findings and Recommendations 8 findings
F1
School safety and security are priorities in every school district in the Orange County public school system. Response to F.1. The Centralia School District agrees with this finding. School safety and security are a priority in Centralia School District.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
School districts should explore all possible funding resources that may be available in order to implement desired security measures. (F.2.) Response to R.1. The recommendation has been implemented by utilizing general funds, grant money, bond funds and Local Control and Accountability Plan.
F2
The implementation of security measures for schools, in many cases, is limited by funding. Response to F.2. The Centralia School District agrees with this finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
School districts should re-evaluate the lack of secure fencing on all school campuses and present a report to their respective boards by December 31, 2018, outlining their plans to make campuses more secure. (F.2, F.3) Response to R.2. The recommendation has been implemented. All eight schools have perimeter fencing.
F3
Many Orange County school campuses were constructed to reflect an "open and inviting" atmosphere but are now faced with physical and philosophical security issues that challenge this thinking. Response to F.3. The Centralia School District agrees with this finding. Of the eight schools within our district, all schools have perimeter fencing and are moving toward a single-entry procedure through the use of bond funds that were approved in 2016. Board of Trustees: Henry Charoen • Elizabeth A. Gonzalez • Steve Harris • Art Montez • Connor Traut District Superintendent: Norma E. Martinez 0.3 The Honorable Charles Margines July 17, 2018
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
School districts should implement procedures to ensure that all campuses maintain a complete, daily log (electronic or manual) of every visitor and volunteer entering and exiting the campus, excluding program events such as awards ceremonies or stage or musical productions. (F.4.) Response to R.3. The recommendation has been implemented. All district schools have implemented a sign-in system to account for all volunteers and visitors on the campus.
F4
While every Orange County school district reported the use of a campus visitor sign-in process, there is a lack of procedural consistency among school campuses. Response to F.4. The Centralia School District disagrees with this finding as it pertains to our schools. Centralia School District stresses the importance of the sign-in log procedure for campus visitors and volunteers.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
School districts should implement procedures to ensure that photo identification is required of all campus visitors and volunteers before a visitor's badge is issued. (F.4, F.5.) Response to R.4. The recommendation will be fully implemented in 2018-2019 utilizing a new visitor sign in system.
F5
Many districts or school campuses do not require all teachers, staff, and volunteers to wear ID badges while on campus, making identification of authorized personnel difficult for substitute teachers, student teachers, visitors, volunteers, and first responders. Response to F.5. The Centralia School District disagrees with this finding as it pertains to our schools. Centralia School District requires teachers, staff and volunteers to wear ID badges while on the campus.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
School districts should implement procedures to ensure that all faculty and staff are required to wear visible photo ID badges while on campus. (F.5.) Response to R.5. The recommendation has been implemented.
F7
Campus personnel and volunteers, while on duty outside the classroom, have an inconsistent usage or availability of communication devices for emergency situations. Response to F.7. The Centralia School District disagrees with this finding as it pertains to our schools. Centralia School District provides two-way communication devices accessible to staff.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
School districts should evaluate available communication devices and ensure that custodial and supervisory personnel, as well as safety resource officers, playground supervisors and coaches, have two-way radios or equivalent communication devices with them at all times, enabling instant two- way communication with the office. (F.7.) Response to R.7. The recommendation has been implemented. All appropriate school district personnel have access to communication devices at all eight schools. Board of Trustees: Henry Charoen • Elizabeth A. Gonzalez • Steve Harris • Art Montez • Connor Traut District Superintendent: Norma E. Martinez . The Honorable Charles Margines July 17, 2018
F8
There is no documentation or reporting protocol within the districts of individual security incidents, making it difficult to track, analyze, and summarize such incidents. Response to F.8. The Centralia School District disagrees with this finding as it pertains to our schools. Centralia School District maintains a log of all lockdown incidents and consistently uses accident reports to record injuries.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
School districts should consider requiring that all campus incidents of unauthorized access be recorded, tracked, and reported to the district office on a quarterly basis. All districts should share these reports with the Orange County Department of Education. (F.8.) Response to R.8. The recommendation will not be implemented. The district currently tracks all unauthorized entry to resulting in lockdown procedures. The Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) has not, as yet, established a means for districts to share such reports. When OCDE does establish such a procedure, Centralia School District will assess the feasibility of sharing such reports.
F9
While every Orange County school develops a school safety plan, few schools have used an individual school security assessment to identify deficiencies or to develop the required plan. Response to F.9. The Centralia School District disagrees with this finding as it pertains to our schools. Centralia School District provides guidance to each school administrator regarding the Safe Schools Plan and assists in the development and approval of each plan annually. Strong collaboration with the three local police departments has been developed and has secured safety plan checks for all of our schools. We comply with all legally required assessments to identify deficiencies. Board of Trustees: Henry Charoen • Elizabeth A. Gonzalez • Steve Harris • Art Montez • Connor Traut District Superintendent: Norma E. Martinez The Honorable Charles Margines July 17, 2018 RECOMMENDATIONS
Related Recommendations (1)
R9
School districts should evaluate requiring each school to perform a school security assessment to evaluate their current school safety plan. (F.9) Response to R.9. The recommendation has been implemented. All Safe Schools Plans are revised and Board approved annually. Each plan is reviewed by a law enforcement official and approved by School Site Council. The Centralia School District maintains a strong relationship with all three police departments in the area who have committed to provide safety assessments when necessary. Sincerely, Norma E. Martinez Superintendent NM:rmc
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.