SALINAS, Calif. - Monterey County schools may be out for the Summer, but a new report from the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (MCCGJ) questions the active shooter training schools are giving while in session. Ultimately, the jury found not enough is being done.
"You never know these days. A lot of things happen in schools. You worry a lot. You worry for your kids," said Salinas parent, Bertha Romero.
The concern is felt frequently by parents and guardians of school-aged kids. In February, Seaside High School was placed on lockdown after a teen fired a gun near campus.
The Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (MCCGJ) is now holding schools and the Monterey County Office of Education (MCOE) accountable. They said they found "gaps" in the training the district provided staff and students.
These include:
- Schools do not use all the training resources available to them to prepare for a critical incident.
- Schools rarely use online training to address the constraints imposed by limited resources.
- Schools do not uniformly assure that all stakeholders within the school setting are trained.
- Schools do not uniformly assure that training includes active shooter response training, prevention-oriented subjects such as suicide and bullying prevention, and threat assessment and mitigation.
"Everybody needs to know what the plan is. Our job is to educate them on what we are going to do," said Commander John Thornburg from the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office is one of the agencies to respond to active shooter situations. Thornburg said they commonly use a video made by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office to train at schools and other agencies.
Thornburg also admitted that this type of education often happens after an incident has occurred. "Unfortunately, what happens is that after an event hits the news, they realize they want to go over, or haven't gone over it, and we'll go out and do that training," said Thornburg.
Salinas student, Lexi Romero, said her school taught her exactly what to do in an active shooter situation. "We have to turn off all the lights, lock the doors, close the blinds, sit in a corner or away from the door," said Lexi.
Parents said more can always be done. "The more they do the better. It's better for the kids to learn what to do and how to keep safe," said Romero.
The Monterey County Office of Education (MCOE) told KION that they are still studying the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury's (MCCGJ) recommendations and have 60 days to develop a comprehensive response.
June 14, 2019
KION 5/46 News Channel
By Megan Meier
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