The jury recommends that the county to prioritizes funding for safety training, equipment and infrastructure improvements.
The San Diego grand jury recommended that the region’s school districts increase funding for more training and resources toward school safety.
In a report –“School Safety in San Diego County: How Prepared Are We for Another School Shooting?” — released on Tuesday, the panel recommended that all county school safety plans focus on active shooter situations, reports the Times of San Diego.
“Although the probability is low for a school shooting to occur, it is imperative that our schools be reasonably prepared for the possibility of such an event,” the report said.
It noted several school shootings that occurred in San Diego in recent years, including an attack in 2001 at Santee’s Santana High School which left two students dead and 13 people injured.
The report also examined how other schools prepared and responded to some of the more recent school shootings like Sandy Hook or Parkland.
Based on other districts’ safety plans and interviews with education officials, the grand jury found that San Diego County campuses have done well to prepare for active shooter situations, but noted that there is room for improvement.
For example, while some campuses have conducted drills related to intruders, they aren’t necessarily armed intruders. Or, natural disaster safety drills may be more common than drills for active shooter incidents.
Some of the recommendations given in the report include:
- Prioritize funding for training, equipment and infrastructure improvements
- Include substitute teachers and all other adult campus workers in active shooter training
- Conduct “vulnerability studies” at all school sites that account each campus’ unique layout
- Collaborate with school officials, law enforcement, first responders and mental health practitioners
The grand jury urges these recommendations to be incorporated by March 1, 2020 in the following school districts:
- Bonsall Union Elementary School District
- Cajon Valley Union School District
- Carlsbad Unified School District
- Chula Vista Elementary School District
- Escondido Union School District
- Rancho Santa Fe Elementary School District
- San Dieguito Union High School District
- San Marcos Unified School District
- San Diego Unified School District
- San Ysidro Elementary School District
- Sweetwater Union High School District.
May 23, 2019
Campus Safety Magazine (national, based in Massachusetts)
By Katie Malafronte
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