Physical Security in Yuba County Schools - Education Committee

All Marysville Joint Unified School District and Wheatland School District school sites are closed campuses. This limits the off-campus flow of students during the noontime period and also reduces the on-campus flow of non-school persons throughout the school day.

All sites have developed an access list that identifies all persons authorized to remove a student from school for personal or family business.

All site visitors are required to report to the school offices to obtain visitor identification badges that are to be prominently displayed during their visit.

Intermediate and high schools have telephones installed in all classrooms. 14

Some intermediate schools and the two high schools additionally use security guards that patrol school sites and are proactive in controlling and reducing student fights/disagreements.

All school site security team members employ the use of handheld two-way radios.

One intermediate and one high school have, in addition, employed the use of video cameras. According to the site administrators, this use of cameras has greatly reduced campus fights and vandalism.

Video cameras and two-way radios have been installed in buses to assist the drivers in maintaining security during transportation.

All districts have developed “Emergency Action Plans” that identify quick reference telephone numbers for the police, sheriff and fire/paramedic assistance teams, local hospital, Yuba County Office of Emergency Services, P.G. & E., American Red Cross and radio emergency broadcast system phone numbers are also listed. Additional inclusions are instructions for bomb threats, earthquakes, explosions, chemical accidents, fire and flood.

An effective measure used at many school sites is simply to keep the classrooms locked from the outside, so as to discourage easy entrance.

All schools have very active programs that involve local police and sheriff departments.