W
hile things seem rosy in a high-achieving school district in this affluent city, school counselors, staff and administrators are quick to say that not all students are free of problems.
“Our kids have immense pressures,” said Amador Valley High School Vice Principal Rhea Brandon, adding that even a seemingly wealthy and highly educated community has its unique set of issues.
Some of the pressures Brandon sees are bullying, a strong contrast between the have and have-nots, prescription drug abuse, and emotional absence between working parents and students.
Recent events have added to the pressure. In the month of October alone, the district dealt with three teen deaths, one from an alcohol-related crash and the others from alleged suicides. A girl also broke her leg after being hit by a car on her way to school, there were a couple of kidnap scares and a weapon threat locked down Amador’s campus.
These events led parents to wonder about the safety of their kids in seemingly more dangerous times.
“Schools are still safe places,” Superintendent John Casey said.
Casey and others say that even with these problems facing students today, this generation isn’t worse off than before.
“I think there’s a tendency for all prior generations to come to those conclusions,” he said. “Kids are testing the limits and are seen by some to be less responsible. But when I go on campus and talk with students, I see what they strive to be. They are taking classes more difficult than when I was in school and seem very responsible and goal-oriented.”
In terms of expulsions, Kevin Johnson, senior director of pupil services, said he doesn’t see an upward trend since 2000.
“On average, there have been 31 expulsions a year with a low of 18 during the 2006-07 school year,” he said.
Officials responding to the mental health of students and the safety concerns in a lockdown situation said they are learning from these and other events to better protect students.
Helping the whole child
School counselors are no longer on campus for just academic advice, but they are prepared for everything from grades to depression to abuse at home. Using a holistic approach, Brandon says counselors must now prepare for age-old problems like bullying and competition in the newest forms: skewed and impersonal online identities, the use of harsh language toward each other, talking about drugs and sex like it’s no big deal, and constantly battling to be in the top of the academic rankings.
With the addition of counselors last year, the ratio is down to about 425 students per counselor and the district hopes for that ratio to be reduced even further to 350-to-1 in the future.
This change has made a huge difference, according to Sheryl Pacheco, Amador’s head counselor. They now have the ability to spend more time with the students and also be proactive in meeting their needs, which can mean quickly addressing problems. It’s especially helpful in times of crisis, she said, as they are building upon established relationships and more counselors can come to aid in tragic circumstances.
Susan Shanker, head counselor at Foothill High School, said the improved connection means students are more likely to meet with counselors. The biggest complaint among students is stress and time management. Groups have formed on campus where she said hundreds of kids go to work out these issues.
Ed Arndt, psychologist at Foothill, agreed that a familiarity with the student is important in knowing how to help them. As for students being psychologically worse off than ever before, Arndt said he doesn’t see it.
“It’s fairly consistent in the number of students who are hospitalized or repeatedly hospitalized,” he said. “I’ve seen a tremendous improvement in how they have responded.”
In addition to counseling, school officials and the district have reached out to students by way of assemblies, town hall meetings and a new anonymous student support tip line.
The tip line is set up at 417-5199, a goal the district’s Personal Development Committee originally planned to have in place Nov. 1.
“The line will have pupil services staff checking it every morning and afternoon that school is in session,” Johnson said. “[It will be used to] give a heads-up regarding situations where we can direct calls to the appropriate person or resources in order to assist students.”
Shari Schanen, a parent of both a junior and a 2006 graduate, said her children have benefited from resources already in place, such as counselors and school resource officers (police officers who work as a liaison between the police department), students and school administration. When issues with her child arose, she found them to be great to work with.
“What I’m really concerned about is some of these kids’ mental health,” she said. “It’s disturbing to think these kids think they can’t talk about it with anyone.”
Victoria Glenn, a parent of both a third- and fifth-grader, thinks kids are having to grow up a lot faster and may be acting out under all the pressure.
“It’s a lot for them,” she said. “They all want to be the best. It’s too much knowledge at one time and it’s hard for them to get it all in there without going a little crazy.”
Overall, Schanen and Glenn feel comfortable with the safety and wellbeing of their children at Pleasanton schools.
Emergency preparedness
A weapons threat led to the lockdown of the Amador Valley High campus Oct. 15. Police investigated the threat, found no credible evidence and the lockdown was lifted 45 minutes later. A previous lockdown situation happened a few years ago with a bomb threat and past instances of school violence throughout the nation has led police and the district to take any threat seriously.
The Pleasanton Police Department works closely with the district in emergency procedures at the schools.
“We always look to err on the side of safety,” Capt. Eric Finn said. “The difficult part in those threats is that it takes time to determine what’s truthfully going on or perhaps what is just a hoax.”
When asked to pinpoint emergency procedures, both Finn and Superintendent Casey said it’s difficult because incidences are rarely alike. With the rise of school shootings, the district added intruder drills.
“From all the incidents that we’ve seen around the country, it’s almost impossible to prepare for every single situation,” Finn said. “The fundamentals behind a lockdown or intruder [drill] are to lockdown the campus, shelter kids in place and isolate what we would consider to be the threat.
“We consistently do training with the school district,” he continued. “School administration and personnel from the department evaluate and look at it from a learning standpoint to improve and keep the campuses as safe as possible.”
One tactic that has changed after learning from other incidents is the involvement of the police.
“In an active shooter situation a team of officers goes in to neutralize the threat until the shooting is stopped and isolated,” Finn said. “We no longer wait on the sidelines to make sure the SWAT team comes. We’re going to assemble, respond and deal with the threat.”
“Students need to know that they have many people on campus who are interested in their safety and the police department is absolutely invested in making sure campuses are safe,” he added. “We’re willing to risk our lives and make sure that is the case.”
To ensure the safety of the students, police ask that everyone comply and allow them to do their jobs–this includes parents. Text messages to parents should have correct information and convey that they are safe.
“If we have parents coming to campus, we’re not going to be effective because we can’t respond to the scene,” Finn said.
Even with the rarity of these events, Schanen said as a parent, she is still concerned about these types of emergencies.
“You don’t want to think so, but it could happen here,” she said. “Especially when you see it happening in other areas, it could happen in our schools.”
Glenn said she doesn’t think about a shooting happening in Pleasanton and is grateful for the lockdown situations no matter how small the threat.
When it comes to dealing with an emergency situation, Finn said it’s important that the students and parents act in a way that wouldn’t distract from ensuring safety.
The district has also changed how students are given information after the recent lockdown, which left many students questioning what was going on. Casey said that with the announcements of the suicides, teachers were given a statement to read to the class, whereas before teachers were given information and it was up to their discretion to share it.
Banding together
The school district–along with Unite for Life, Hope Hospice and Axis Community Health–is hosting a town hall meeting Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Amador library to address the recent deaths and mental health of students. As of now, this is the first of two town hall meetings on this topic, but it joins another once-a-semester meeting put on by police about teen driving safety.
The entire community is welcome to attend these meetings to have the opportunity to interact with knowledgeable people and receive resources to deal with the issues.
Results from the California Healthy Kids Survey and the Tri-Valley Adolescent Health Initiative showed what the district considered to be alarming statistics about Pleasanton teen behavior. The district published those statistics and held a couple of town hall meetings in partnership with nearby agencies in an effort to “start the conversation” between parents and students. This school year, similar forums will be held as the district hopes the conversation will continue.
While it’s hard for anyone to know for certain whether these conversations have happened, Casey said there’s no excuse for not knowing about the at-risk behaviors students are engaging in.
Glenn said she already has open communication with her fifth-grader and plans to continue that when he enters middle school next year.
“It helps if the school talks about [at-risk behaviors],” she said. “It opens up the flood gates. But it’s the parents’ responsibility to be talking with kids about that.”
Casey continued to say that helping these students is about balancing between simple and overbearing motivation–and everyone needs to pay attention to how students are dealing with these pressures.
“We can have teachers and administrators watch for bullying,” he said, “but that needs to start at home in order for it to ever be reduced. Talk with students and they will listen and respond. It takes the school, parents, places of worship, even the Chamber of Commerce to encourage them to work their way through it.”
Glenn and Schanen agree that much of the responsibility falls on the parents.
In response to these issues, Casey wants people to know that they take them very seriously.
“Sometimes we talk about all the things we’re doing and all the successes we have and sometimes people believe that we’re not being real to the challenges our kids face,” he said. “I always try to portray a more balanced presentation. Our challenges are much of what we talk about–students engaging in at-risk behaviors. They face a lot of stress and we need to pay attention to that.”
Getting back to the idea of caring for the whole child, Foothill Principal John Dwyer said programs are not the complete answer. Programs are important, he said, but they have a beginning and an end–and that’s where relationships come into play.
“We have a variety of programs like “Every 15 Minutes,” but we still have kids drinking and driving,” he said.
He said it’s about connecting with students and showing that they are cared for and loved.
But as Village High School Principal Greg Giglio adds, it’s an age-old challenge with new clothes.
“Adults try to connect, but kids won’t snitch,” he said. “Adults forget that we used to think that way.”
Even with difficulties, parents seem to feel that their children are safe and that the district is doing a good job.
“I love the school district,” Glenn said. “That’s why I’m here. I’m just more worried that [my son] will be influenced by someone. There’s nothing the school can do about that.”
Warning signs of suicide
1. Sudden changes in behavior
2. Dramatic changes in appetite
3. Sleeping difficulties
4. Poor performance in school
5. Trouble concentrating; agitation; inability to sit still
6. Unexplained loss of energy or excessive fatigue
7. Loss of interest in friends
8. Increased drug/alcohol use
9. Constant feeling of worthlessness or self-hatred
10. Excessive risk-taking
11. Pre-occupation with death, dying or suicide
12. Giving away of personal or prized possessions
Next town hall meeting
The community is invited to a town hall meeting addressing recent allegedly intentional teen deaths scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Amador Valley High School library, 1155 Santa Rita Road. The Pleasanton Unified School District joins with Unite for Life, Hope Hospice and Axis Community Health to provide suicide prevention resources.
