Blog note: this article references a recent grand jury report and the responses to it.
SANTA CRUZ >> The poorly punctuated threat was written in small, red letters on a Pajaro Valley High School bathroom wall this week.
“There will be a shooting in PV Friday 2:30 warning don’t come to school,” Sgt. Mish Radich said, reciting graffiti that ended with a smiling face — all drawn in permanent marker.
A Watsonville police school-resource officer, who works at the school full-time, started to investigate the threat Tuesday. Additional police officers were assigned to the campus at 500 Harkins Slough Road the rest of the week, Radich said.
“Due to the way the threat was written and how specific it was, we didn’t believe it to be credible,” Radich said. “Also, there was some writing around it that led us to believe it was not credible.”
Schools occasionally receive threats near the academic year’s end, Radich said.
“They happen. People try to stop final exams from happening,” Radich said.
Wednesday, Principal Matthew Levy in a memo to student families said an image of the graffiti appeared on social media. The student who posted that image was interviewed, Levy said.
“This investigation continues today, but at this point, no students or staff have been in danger,” Levy wrote Wednesday.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Alicia Jiménez said increased security is scheduled on campus Friday.
“The school investigated the threat and they are not going to be closing the school,” Jiménez said. “It’s going to be business as usual with the extra security on campus.”
PLANS IN CHECK
The graffiti was investigated just before the release Thursday of Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Sheriff’s Office responses to the Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury report, “Threat Assessment In Our Public Schools.”
The grand jury has legal authority to examine special districts, and city and county governments; its findings are meant to improve government operations.
The report, issued in April, recommended continued collaboration between the Office of Education and Sheriff’s Office to maintain timely resources and training in threat response.
In June 2017, the grand jury first reported on the topic — “Is Enough Being Done?” — and alleged inconsistencies in communication and assessment plans, response teams and training at schools in Santa Cruz County.
As a result of the 2017 report, a countywide threat-assessment plan was created in December.
Santa Cruz County Superintendent Michael Watkins, responding to the April report, said Santa Cruz County’s chiefs of police and superintendents have been meeting since August, forming the School Safety Partnership supporting the threat-assessment plan and training guides to ensure student safety.
Watkins said county program and school district staff trainings were scheduled this month to implement threat-assessment protocol.
The grand jury’s April findings calls for plans to rehearse threat-assessment methods.
“We have modified the threat assessment protocol in two areas to included rehearsing the threat assessment protocol in non-threat situations,” Watkins said. “We are confident that our schools have systems in place to effectively prepare for and implement the threat assessment protocol.”
Sheriff Jim Hart said such prevention tactics helped to resolve multiple reported threats of school violence in Santa Cruz County.
The Sheriff’s Office and other law-enforcement partners offer site-specific, threat-response training to schools throughout the county, Hart said.
“We continue to meet quarterly as part of an expanded school safety task force with law enforcement agencies, school districts and now, fire agencies from throughout the county to facilitate ongoing relationships, cross-training and pre-planning activities for response to school safety issues, including the threat of school violence,” Hart said.
May 24, 2018
Santa Cruz Sentinel
By Michael Todd
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