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Uploaded: Friday, January 18, 2013, 7:39 AM
Updated: Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 6:59 AM
Parents talk about about school safety worries at public forum
Schools have plans in place to cover nearly every emergency, administrators say
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by Glenn Wohltmann
Pleasanton Weekly Staff
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 | Armed guards. A police officer at every school. Locked fences. Those were a few of the suggestions raised by some Pleasanton parents who are worried about the safety of their kids.
At a forum on school safety, an audience of about 65 people -- many of them school administrators -- turned up to talk about how to protect children, following recent shootings in Connecticut and California.
School Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi was joined by police Chief Dave Spiller and Deputy Chief Joseph Rodondi of the Livermore/Pleasanton Fire Department to talk and listen to parents.
The talk also drew in a number of current and former principals, all of whom agreed: Schools in Pleasanton are safe.
Harvest Park Middle School Principal Ken Rocha showed the audience a 4-inch thick binder addressing safety issues. He and Ahmadi declined to talk about the specifics included in it for security reasons but parents were invited to see a copy of the safety plan at the schools their children attend.
The safety plan includes plans for a wide range of contingencies, covering everything from fires to chemical spills to earthquakes to intruders and more.
"When you think of safety, you look at (things like) 'duck and cover,'" Rocha told the crowd, "but it's also about proactiveness."
He said his school recently held an intruder drill, which included a pre-drill, talking with police
The plan is updated at each school every year, based on conversations with staff, police, students and parents. The deadline for the update is March 1 and parents were invited to become involved.
Bill Faraghan, assistant superintendent of human resources told the audience about an incident that occurred when he was principal at Fairlands Elementary The school got a call that armed men were in the area while he was out on the playground with students. The school was locked down -- the men actually arrived at Fairlands and tried to get in but were arrested -- all within about three minutes.
But the district is doing more to fine-tune its procedures.
"We've been working on standardizing our drills more, working more closely with the police department," Ahmadi said.
And the district is bringing in its insurance company for another perspective on what can be done, Deputy Superintendent Luz Cazares said.
"It'll be nice to have an independent third party come in and make sure our sites are safe," she said.
At least some of the parents seemed to want more. One asked if the district would consider putting a police officer at every school, something Spiller said would be costly and could hinder the police department's ability to respond to other calls.
Another parent wanted to know why elementary schools aren't locked down.
"We can lock every door, we can put a 10-foot fence up around every room. It's really about taking precautions," Ahmandi said, pointing out that both schools where recent shootings occurred has strong safety procedures.
She added that many parents were resistant earlier this year when they were told they'd no longer be able to walk their children directly to their classroom.
Spiller said schools could initiate 1,000 safety procedures, but that someone intent on doing harm could come up with just one more; Rodondi noted that schools have to be able to get kids out quickly, something that could be hindered by locked gates.
The district recently received a federal grant that allowed the locks on all doors to be changed.
A parent questioned whether armed guards could be stationed at schools. Spiller worried that guards may not receive the same level of training as police officers.
"The effectiveness lies in the capacity of the individual and the proficiency with whatever they are armed with," Spiller said. "The effectiveness really comes down to the standards to which they're trained."
One parent noted that money for security guards would be better spent on hiring more counselors, although another suggested arming teachers with tasers.
A parent asked if the schools plan for the use of other weapons, such as bombs.
"These are all included in our plans," Ahmadi said, adding one proviso.
"I don't think we can tell you we've thought of everything," she said.
Asked how often police practice intruder drills, Spiller said that was done at every school at least once a year, and that officers practice scenarios at schools when they're closed for breaks.
Beyond overall school safety, several parents asked about bullying, with one noting that the shooter at Newtown, Connecticut may have been bullied.
The district has become more aware of the bullying issue. In a recent survey, there was a 9% increase in the number of staff that described bullying as a moderate to severe problem.
Amador Valley High School Principal Jim Hansen said at his school, administrators speak to students about bullying once every semester.
Foothill High Principal John Dwyer said bullying is more about being pushed out a social group than physical violence. Administrators there also hold two meeting on bullying every year, and said teachers are on the front line.
"They are always looking out in the classroom for something different," he said. "They know if something is up and they ask the kids."
He said Foothill also reaches out to sports teams and coaches about bullying, harassment and hazing.
Bullies and sometimes their victims can be transferred to other schools, Kevin Johnson, senior director of pupil services said.
Ahmadi asked parents to follow school policies, such as stopping at the office to get a name tag when entering a school. She encouraged parents to pass on the district's anonymous tip line number -- 417-5199 -- to report problems of any type.
Rodondi offered simple advice.
"If you see something, say something," he said.Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Foothill Parent, a member of the Foothill High School community, on Jan 18, 2013 at 9:45 am Was Principal Dwyer's bullying statement taken out of context or is he out of touch on the subject of bullying? When victims are pushed out of a social group over and over again, it can cause a build up of resentment over time and when the victims break, they have brought guns to school and in some cases unleashed violence upon their abusers and/or the public at large. e.g. Columbine, Taft, Marsh, Miller Grove etc. Some statistics: Web Link
Taft - Kern County Sheriff Youngblood said the suspect alleges the two students he targeted had bullied him for more than a year, but the sheriff couldn't confirm the allegations.
"Certainly he believed that the two people he targeted had bullied him, in his mind. Whether that occurred or not we don't know yet," Youngblood said.
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Jan 18, 2013 at 9:52 am I'm with the students and their parents.
Hopefully, the discussion to protect students will continue. It's the job of a principal to claim that the schools are safe. What we know is that that is not always the case.
There is nothing like assertive parents when it comes to protecting their children. VIVA!
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Posted by KC, a resident of the Country Fair neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2013 at 10:03 am I think the idea of the teachers having tasers is a GREAT idea. It could be kept in the emergency bags that they each have in their classrooms, and locked away in their cabinet or drawer. If needed, they can take it out for an emergency. Usually there is a warning for an intruder and teachers are suppose to lock their doors and shut the lights and move children to an area of the classroom so that an intruder doesnt see them in the class. I know in some situations an intruder could walk right in a room and start shooting, but other classes would get the warning and having a taser would be a great asset.If the district makes it mandatory to have teachers learn CPR, they can also have them learn how to use a taser and what to do in an emergency situation.
Administrators need to listen to the teachers who are in class with some of these suspicious characters/students and take it seriously. Who knows what some of these kids carry in their backpacks.If you want teachers to report when a student has bizarre behavior or is suspicious of something, then search his/her backpack and dont just send them back to the classroom. And parents shouldn't defend their kid if their backpack is searched. If a teacher or administrator has reason, then they should be able to search it. Too many parents don't like the invasion of their kid's rights, but too many kids get killed because people ignore the signs that are right in front of them for fear that a parent will sue the school!
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Posted by Sunshine, a resident of the Highland Oaks neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2013 at 12:39 pm We, as a society, have only ourselves to blame. We have failed our schools. We have time and time again chosen not to make education a priority in our society. Our schools do only what they can do with the money that they get which is, very unfortunately, far less than our children deserve. The people attacking our schools are products of those very schools. They have likely been failed whether they have been bullied or whether they had other issues and just didn't "fit the mold" of the educational system. It happens all too often with kids that are ADD or have other possibly undiagnosed issues or issues that schools don't get funding to deal with. The sad thing is, we've made it all about money. So folks, if you want a safer society, we need to do a better job of educating our society and that starts with funding our schools better.
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Jan 18, 2013 at 3:22 pm who are the bullies at the various schools in pleasanton? names please...
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Posted by crz, a resident of the Avila neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2013 at 8:06 pm There are a ton of bullies in pleasanton schools. But pleasanton schools dont care nothing is ever done about it so they can stop lying about how its their priority.
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Posted by Mike, a resident of the Highland Oaks neighborhood, on Jan 21, 2013 at 3:10 pm Before investing resources, please ensure that the people involved clearly understand the difference between feeling safe and being safe.
Mike
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Posted by Don, a resident of the Ironwood neighborhood, on Jan 22, 2013 at 10:36 am I would like to point out something concerning our elementary & Middle School students being approached by the Gideon Bible Society men. They come every year to various corners when school is about to dismiss and offer small Bibles to the students. Very few take them but those that do are always pleasant to these men, and say thank you. These men distributing these are dressed very casually and are more mature in age. The point some of the parents have and they have expressed it to me, their school crossing guard, is that we teach our children to not accept anything from strangers or talk with strangers. I have taken it on myself to write this Bible group about this and asked that they change their way of doing this. Immediately the police are called and this last visit, three squad cars showed up. The PPD cannot do anything to these people if not on school property and not breaking the law. It has always been my belief that parents are responsible for the religious upbringing of any child until they reach an age of deciding for themselves. I received an answer from the Gideon Society and their response was that they always notify the schools in advance and that they always send two men to each corner. I find that is not true at all and we are especially concerned with safety these days following the Sandy Hook tragedy to name a few.
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Posted by bev halstrom, a member of the Walnut Grove Elementary School community, on Jan 22, 2013 at 12:41 pm We tell our kids to tell the Gideon people that they've no need for the bible because we've already seen the movie.
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Posted by kbenson, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Jan 23, 2013 at 10:05 pm They can start by better managing the logs (used by visitor sign in @ schools)
These are usually several feet away from the office staff. Anyone can scribble Fred Flintstone on this log, and wonder the campus with a nice visitor sticker.
The way it "should" work
Any visitor needs to provide ID to staff member, + sign the log.
Staff member needs to validate visitor with destination rep./teacher.
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Posted by Common sense, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 24, 2013 at 7:29 am Each teacher should have a taser, including the playground person of the moment. . (personnel who volunteer with guns ok also).. A guard cannot be everywhere.
I assume office & teachers have instant communication, i.e 2-way color coded lights & buzzer codes, and police alarms like home systems....from each classroom.
Seems those are all common sense, most situation measures.... no single, expensive, one-answer that would probably be the one that would not work for that type of incident when needed.
Kids face danger daily, walking behind cars in parking lots while mom's texting, playing at top of stairs. Remember all of this, even happening at the 'school' , much less your classroom, is less odds than being struck by lightning, twice.
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Posted by Common sense, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 24, 2013 at 7:32 am I guess I meant greater than, like a billion to one.
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