I-Team special report: School Security
Back in May, News Channel 3’s I-Team Reporter Karen Devine hosted a youth forum at the KESQ television studios. Students from all three valley school districts were represented. When asked a number of questions pertaining to recent school shootings and violence across the Nation, students agreed that safety at school is a top concern.
Because of this, we wanted to look deeper into security at all three of our Coachella Valley Districts. Our I-team investigation “School Security” takes a closer look at some of the changes on campuses including one valley district that is opting out of paying sworn law enforcement officers otherwise known as student resource officers (SRO’s) who are armed and responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools.
“Probably the single biggest change is the fact that we will not have a single resource officer at some of our sites,” according to Fred Gonzalez, Director of campus safety and security for the Coachella Valley Unified School District.
Gonzalez tells News Channel 3’s Karen Devine that the school board’s decision not to employ armed officers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department this year will not put students, faculty and staff at risk.
“We are providing the safest environment possible for the students. There are other learning institutions that do not have armed officers on their sites and they function fine. They have security and we plan on doing the same thing,” says Gonzalez.
Devine asked Gonzalez if cost alone was the reason why the school board nixed armed officers from this year’s budget.
Gonzalez responded,”For us it was a decision that was made by the school board. They gave us a directive and we will follow that directive.”
During the youth forum, Devine asked participating students if they felt safe on campus and one young lady from C.V.U.S.D. said she didn’t.
Gonzalez responded by saying, “It’s unfortunate that she did not feel safe, but I could assure her and her family, both her and her family that she will be safe and we’ll do everything within our power to maintain a safe learning environment for her.”
Gonzalez says on-campus restrictions have tightened up especially for those visiting campus. Everyone must go through the office where they are thoroughly checked out. He says students themselves are a big part of helping keep each school site safe.
“We are encouraging students to be aware of there surroundings be aware of what’s around them and once again, you’ve heard the cliche if you see something say something,” says Gonzalez.
Here’s a look at the security staffing numbers at all three valley school districts for 2018. Some employ both armed officers (Security Resource Officers) and hire unarmed security personnel.
Coachella Valley Unified School District has 27 full-time security personnel to cover 23 schools. There are just more than 17,000 students district wide. They no longer employ security resource officers.
Desert Sands Unified School District has 45 full-time security personnel to cover 34 schools. There are more than 29,000 students district wide. They employ seven security resource officers.
Palm Springs Unified School District has 31 full-time security personnel to cover 28 schools in the district. There are more than 22,000 students district wide. They employ four security resource officers.
Gozalez says C.V.U.S.D. is proactive when it comes to safety on campus.
“We are extremely pro-active and we are always looking for new methods to improve, keep in mind that school security is an evolving situation you can’t do what you’ve always done.”
Gonzalez tells Devine there is security 24/7 for all C.V.U.S.D. campuses and they are working closely with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to help in an emergency situation. P.S.U.S.D. announced earlier this summer that they are now a closed campus and parents cannot walk children to class. Also, they along with D.S.U.S.D. have their students wear lanyards that hold their student ID’s so they are visible, making it easier for security to identify them and know they belong on campus. C.V.U.S.D. is looking in to adding that safety measure.
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