Honorable Judge Deddeh:*

Overall, the San Diego County schools studied are prepared to handle many kinds of emergencies, including active shooter situations, due largely to mandates from the State. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Findings 01. The safety and security of schools is our top priority. All schools within the San Ysidro School District are well prepared to protect and support students in the event of an emergency. This state of readiness is the product of sustained effort and ongoing partnerships with community stakeholders, including law enforcement, fire, district attorney's office, parent groups, Sandy Hook Promise, etc.

Overall, law enforcement, first responders, parents and other stakeholders have shown interest to work cooperatively with San Diego County schools studied in the prevention of possible active shooter incident. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Findings 02. San Ysidro School District schools benefit from outstanding partnerships with law enforcement, fire, district attorney's office, parent groups and Sandy Hook Promise. The San Ysidro School District has established a District Safety Task Force Committee comprised of the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, City of San Diego Councilmember Vivian Moreno's Office, District Administration and School Site Principals.

At the site level, there appears to be some lack of interactive collaboration with community stakeholders on the actual development of the plans. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 03 as a general characterization for San Diego County schools. Developing meaningful stakeholder engagement in all aspects of our organization is a priority for San Ysidro School District, which is why as of 2018, all San Ysidro School District school sites engage stakeholders to include law enforcement, fire, district attorney's office, parent groups and city council members in the process of annually reviewing and revising their Comprehensive School Safety Plans. The process is interactive and authentic.

The Grand Jury found that some of the schools reviewed had conducted a vulnerability study of their premises. . San Ysidro School District Response to Grand Jury Report: "School Safety in San Diego County" a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 04. Vulnerability assessments have been conducted for all San Ysidro School District schools in the past and as of 2019 all schools will have site assessment completed using the "Site Assessment" app.

Valuable learning from the recent Florida and Texas shootings is not fully reflected yet in the existing CSSPs. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 05. It can take many months of study in the aftermath of an active shooter event before official findings and

Overall, school districts in San Diego County indicated a more focused approach to active shooter response through their efforts to improve communication, add site safety precautions and adopt guidelines for Options-Based Responses in this year's or next year's Comprehensive School Safety Plans/Emergency Operations Plans. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 06. The San Ysidro School District has made significant investments to prevent, respond to, and recover from an active shooter event. The majority of the District's administrative team have completed the San i. Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE)'s "Options-Based Response" Training of Trainers course. All schools participate in lockdown drills yearly. ii. We have been in contact with Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) on their "Know iii. the Signs prevention programs" regarding a future partnership with the District. With the assistance of SDCOE and SHP, we plan to train Student Threat iv. Assessment Teams for each of our sites. San Ysidro School District Response to Grand Jury Report: "School Safety in San Diego County" District and site Mental Health Crisis Intervention Teams have been ٧. trained by SDCOE staff using the National Association of School Psychologists' PREPaRE model.

All San Diego County Schools in the Grand Jury study claimed to have conducted or have scheduled drills within the current school year on emergency procedures directed towards intruders on campus, but not specifically armed assailants. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 07. All San Ysidro School District schools conducted lockdown drills during the 2018-2019 school year.

Drills (conducted or planned) center mainly on the presentation of procedures but are progressing toward becoming more realistic and dynamic, which helps create a "mental model" for preconditioning staff and students to act with immediacy. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 08. Staff and students at all San Ysidro School District schools participate in training and drills that are dynamic and intended to create a mental model that pre-conditions them to act with immediacy in response to active shooter events. i. Dynamic drills that the San Ysidro School district conduct yearly are as follows: 1. Earthquake Fire Lockdown These drills are conducted at different times of the day to make drills dynamic.

As a note of recognition, Sweetwater Union High School District has gone above and beyond state requirements for safety training by demonstrating excellent and thorough levels of preparation. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 09. The San Ysidro School District joins the Grand Jury in its praise of the SUHSD.

Funding for active shooter response and preparedness is given high priority for some districts. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 10. Providing funds for active shooter response and preparedness is a high priority for the San Ysidro School San Ysidro School District Response to Grand Jury Report: "School Safety in San Diego County" District. Threat assessment team training, single point of entry at campuses and active shooter/armed assailant training and drills. At a time of rising pension and special education costs, as well as declining enrollment putting pressure on school district budgets, additional state funding specifically for safety improvements would help the San Ysidro School District finance additional school safety.

Before and after school programs need to be better addressed in safety plans. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 11. The planning cycle we use to create, and revise school safety plans has continuous improvement as its goal.

Many districts expressed a need to train all adults on campus in safety procedures. a. The San Ysidro School District agrees with Finding 12. The San Ysidro School District agrees that all adults who work on a school campus should be trained in campus safety procedures. The district and all our school sites have plans in place to ensure all regular and temporary employees, and contracted service providers, are trained in school safety procedures within 90 days as of 09/01/2019 beginning work on a school campus. The 2018/19 Grand Jury recommends that by March 1, 2020 San Ysidro School District: 19-01: Increase the priority of funding in school budgets for training, equipment and infrastructure improvements to handle active shooter crisis as a matter of security for staff and student safety.