School sites have plans in place, conduct drills; Sobrato has
video surveillance
Morgan Hill – Education officials want to reassure parents of Morgan Hill Unified School District students that school is a safe place for their kids despite three recent school shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The district sent a phone message Wednesday evening to parents, informing them that each site has a safety plan and conducts regular “Code Red,” or intruder-on-campus drills. The message also instructed parents to be responsive to other measures the schools are taking, such as requiring all who visit the campuses to check in at the school offices and asking people on the campuses to identify themselves and to register in the offices, even if they are frequent visitors.
School Board Trustee Kathy Sullivan said the district has “done some really strong work, particularly this past year and a half,” to make sure school emergency plans are up to date.
“If anything good can come out of these tragedies, it is that there is an increased focus, an increased awareness,” she said. “At least for a time, the community is asking the important questions, wanting to know how things are structured. The school community, of course, is always focused on student safety.”
Sullivan said that another positive outcome of the tragedies is that school officials and staffs are realizing that, especially in cases where students are the instigators of the tragic incidents, there are usually warning signs.
“If a teacher, for example, notices a student is upset, they might be more likely to intervene in some way than they might have been years ago,” she said. “Other students are more likely to come forward with disturbing information they get from their peers.”
Morgan Hill police Sgt. David Swing said an incident at a local high school last year reinforces Sullivan’s statements.
“A student on the Sobrato High campus didn’t feel safe and reported a possible bomb threat involving two students,” Swing said. “Police may not know what’s in the works on a school campus, but the students usually do.”
The Morgan Hill Police Department has a School Resource Officer (SRO) program, and the presence of officers David Ray and Gary Cupps on school campuses to deal with issues that may arise, but also to increase visibility and possibly head off potential trouble.
The police department has been working closely with the district, Swing said.
“I think that school safety is the responsibility of the community at large,” he added. “We are very aware of the issues, have been aware, and we have been taking steps to insure safety in a post-Columbine world. Our SRO program works to add to the safety on our high school and middle school campuses.”
MHUSD Director of Student Services Bob Davis said staff at each school site receives information and training prior to the school year beginning on safety and emergency procedures. The police department has an overview plan of each school site, Davis said, because each site has different geographic features.
One thing district officials had hoped to put into place with funds from Measure E, a parcel tax defeated in the June election, is more video surveillance, Davis said. Sobrato High School has video surveillance campus wide, and Live Oak High has some cameras, but the district would like to see more at Live Oak and at other schools.
“Slowly, we are putting in more cameras, that’s one of the things Measure E would have helped us with,” he said.
Davis said school sites regularly conduct “Code Red” drills, and a simulation involving full law-enforcement response is planned.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
