September 17, 2014
U-T San Diego
By Terry E. Brooks
Imagine you’re a student at Morse High School; you walk on
campus and see a military assault vehicle in the auto shop. How would you feel?
Obviously, no one asked the students how they felt when the San Diego Unified
School District took delivery of the vehicle in April with little advance
notice to anyone.
When I became aware of the acquisition last week, I had to
wonder what the district thinking was. Have we become so afraid of our students
that school security must display the same militarization that has been used by
police departments across the nation? Is it because the Mine Resistant
Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicle was free? Maybe it is simply the imbalance
between individual actions and actions which benefit the entire district.
I was troubled when I heard the district police explain
the acquisition. In a recent interview, district police Capt. Joe Florentino
stated that the purpose of the MRAP is for rescue missions only. “When we have
an emergency at a school, we’ve got to get in and save kids. Our idea is ‘How
can we get in and pull out a classroom at a time of kids if there’s an active
shooter?’” said Florentino. “If there’s a fire [or] if there’s an earthquake,
can we rip down a wall? Stuff like that.”
We must remember, these vehicles were sent to Iraq to help
the troops who ventured into potential land mines. The manufacturer markets the
MRAP as the single most effective counter to improvised explosive devices.
Clearly there is a fundamental difference of opinion as to the appropriateness
of school police owning such a vehicle, particularly in communities of color.
What happened to the use of the district’s emergency
response procedures, including one called site shelter-in-place? This is the
specific procedure which is followed when it has been determined that
evacuating the site is more dangerous than taking shelter inside a building.
Capt. Florentino would have us believe that it is better to knock down a wall
rather than follow the standing procedure of site-shelter-on-place.
In March 2014, the county grand jury filed a report
entitled “School Security — There is no greater purpose.” The grand jury’s
investigation focused on four major areas:
•
Implementing and exercising school
emergency preparedness plans
•
Training of school administrators,
teachers and support staff
•
Strengthening partnerships with
public safety officials
•
Evaluating and refining school
security measures
The grand jury made several findings, and the purchase of
a military assault vehicle was not one of them. It should be noted that all 42
San Diego County school districts had a deadline of June 23, 2014, to respond
to the grand jury report.
The solution is simple: Send the MRAP vehicle back to
Texas!
I recommend that the district take the following
additional actions:
1) Post its response to the grand jury from the March 2014
report.
2) Evaluate the resources available for mental health
services.
3) Investigate the possibility of adopting a districtwide
civility policy since a quality school experience depends, in great part, on
how students, teachers and parents treat each other. This can contribute to the
reduction of negative interactions, which sometimes fester and/or escalate.
4) Trust the public and engage when decisions of this
magnitude are being made.
I trust the San Diego Unified Board of Education will do
the right thing by focusing on the “Clear and Present Danger” … the need to
improve student performance in our neighborhood school. Yes, we have the
audacity to demand that it happen, because our students deserve better.
Brooks, senior pastor of Bayview Baptist Church since July
2013, is a theological preacher, teacher and lecturer for youth and adults.
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