Orange County Grand Jury
• 2017-2018
• Agency Response
Response to:
Brea Olinda Unified School District
[for Districts Operating K-12 or 7-12] August 1, 2018 School District The Honorable Charles Margines Presiding Judge of*
⚠️ 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.
Findings and Recommendations 8 findings
F2
Response to F.2.: The Brea Olinda Unified School District agrees with this finding. The extent to which our school District can implement the type and extent of security measures is often dependent on funding. Many Orange County school campuses were constructed to reflect an "open and inviting"
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 requires further analysis including the cost of installing fencing at the eight schools in the District that are currently non-fenced. The Board initiated a School Facility Master Plan study in the spring of 2018 and fencing was a part of that study. Cost and further discussion will continue related to fencing when we get the Facility Master Plan completed, though no plans to move forward can occur until a funding source is identified to fund the project.
F3
atmosphere but are now faced with physical and philosophical security issues that challenge this thinking. Response to F.3.: The Brea Olinda Unified School District agrees with this finding. Of the schools within our District, eight of our nine campuses can be considered to reflect an "open and inviting" atmosphere with only one campus having a gate that encompasses the school. While every Orange County school district reported the use of a campus visitor sign-in
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. Our schools keep a sign-in log in the front office where all visitors are required to sign in and get a visitor sticker before entering campus. Visitors are also required to sign out as they are leaving the campus. School districts should implement procedures to ensure that photo identification is required
F4
process, there is a lack of procedural consistency among school campuses. Civic Center Circle, Level II • P.O. Box 300, Brea, California 92822-0300 • (714) 990-7800; Fax (714) 529-2137 BOARD MEMBERS: Carrie Flanders President, Gail Lyons, Vice President, Paul Ruiz, Clerk, Nicole Colon, Bill R. Hall, Steve Sewell, Rod Todd ADMINISTRATION: Brad Mason, Ed.D., Superintendent, Kerrie Torres, Asst. Supt/Educational Services, Jean Aldrete, Asst. Supt/Business Services, Brinda Leon, Executive Director, Human Resources 2017-2018 Orange County Grand Jury Report Safer Schools - What Can We Do? Response of Brea Olinda Unified School District August 1, 2018 Response to F.4.: The Brea Olinda Unified School District disagrees wholly with this finding as follows: Though physical characteristics and campus layouts differ between schools in the District, our sign-in policies are consistent throughout the District.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
of all campus visitors and volunteers before a visitor's badge is issued. (F.4, F.5.) 2017-2018 Orange County Grand Jury Report Safer Schools - What Can We Do? Response of Brea Olinda Unified School District August 1, 2018 Response to R.4.: The recommendation has not yet been implemented. However, three campuses will be piloting a visitor management system during the 2018-19 school year and the District will be evaluating its utility for all of our schools.
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 Brea Olinda Unified School District agrees with this finding and is looking at different ID badging options for employees, visitors and other authorized individuals to wear as identification while on school campuses. The District is looking at piloting a badging option during the 2018-19 school year at multiple school sites. Currently, student ID badges, which could easily distinguish students from non-students of
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 requires discussion with our Human Resources Department and our employee groups. Discussions will be had during the 2018-19 school year to examine the logistics and associated costs of implementing an employee ID badging system for all District employees.
F6
similar age, are not required to be worn by Orange County middle and high school students. Response to F.6.: The Brea Olinda Unified School District agrees with this finding. Students are not required to wear an ID badge at school. Campus personnel and volunteers, while on duty outside the classroom, have an
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
All school districts with middle or high school campuses should consider using student ID cards in a format to be worn as student ID badges while on campus. (F.6.) Response to R.6.: The recommendation requires further analysis and discussion with our secondary principals and staff to determine the logistics and costs associated with this recommendation.
F7
inconsistent usage or availability of communication devices for emergency situations. Response to F.7.: The Brea Olinda Unified School District agrees with this finding. As it pertains to our schools, certain individuals have campus walkie-talkies issued to them as part of their job responsibilities for student supervision. There are a limited number of these on campus and there are no additional ones available during emergency situations. The number we have on campus is fixed. There is no documentation or reporting protocol within the districts of individual security
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, with all identified supervisory personnel issued a communication device allowing them to communicate on a daily basis and during an emergency situation.
F8
incidents, making it difficult to track, analyze, and summarize such incidents. Response to F.8.: The Brea Olinda Unified School District wholly disagrees with this finding. As it pertains to our schools, our schools fill out an Unusual Occurrence Report form and it is filed with the District's Risk Manager. While every Orange County school develops a school safety plan, few schools have used
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 has been implemented at a District level. This information is not shared with the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) because they do not collect this information. Many incidents are site/district specific and lack relevance at a county level. This information is available, if OCDE wanted to collect this information. School districts should evaluate requiring each school to perform a school security
F9
an individual school security assessment to identify deficiencies or to develop the required plan. Response to F.9.: The Brea Olinda Unified School District agrees with this finding. As it pertains to our schools, however, Brea Police Department works with our schools to identify ways we can 2017-2018 Orange County Grand Jury Report Safer Schools - What Can We Do? Response of Brea Olinda Unified School District August 1, 2018 improve site safety and they are involved in reviewing our Site safety Plans and signing off on them. RECOMMENDATIONS School districts should explore all possible funding resources that may be available in order
Related Recommendations (1)
R9
assessment to evaluate their current school safety plan. (F.9) 25 2017-2018 Orange County Grand Jury Report Safer Schools - What Can We Do? Response of Brea Olinda Unified School District August 1, 2018 Response to R.9.: The recommendation requires further analysis as it lacks specificity related to performing a school security assessment on a one-time or yearly basis. It is unclear as to who would provide such an assessment and whether there is an established criteria for conducting a school security assessment. Brea Olinda Unified School District will continue to work with Brea Police Department to ensure that our campuses are safe and our Site Safety Plans comply with State requirements. Sincerely, Brod Wara Brad Mason, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools Brea Olinda Unified School District
* 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.