LTUSD slow to create safe school environment
Hundreds of South Tahoe High Students rally for safe schools on March 14. Photo/Julie Threewit
By Kathryn Reed
Teachers are now human shields, ready to take a bullet for a student. And students – little kids, not just teenagers – no longer feel safe at school, a place that not so long ago was a sanctuary of sorts.
During the recent Tahoe Valley Elementary School lockdown teacher Jody Dayberry peeked into the hallway. She saw the fear in the first-graders’ eyes, and the tears rolling down. One 6-year-old asked if someone had a gun and told her teacher she didn’t want to die.
This is what it’s like today to be a student – and a teacher – in the United States. A certain innocence has been lost.
Dayberry relayed this exchange to the school board members at their meeting this week. Fortunately, that event was a false alarm, but for the kids it was still a scary time.
“We as educators can’t stay silent,” Dayberry said. “We can’t idly sit by and hope the odds are on our side. We must make plans. We must have procedures.”
She lobbied for training in how to talk to students and getting help with identifying at-risk students.
Talk about safety measures is cheap until someone dies.
Talk is what Lake Tahoe Unified School District is good at. There was even more talk on March 13, with board members wanting to talk even more before they pull the proverbial trigger to actually do something.
Safety in this South Shore district has been talked about for at least a decade. School shootings seem to spur the discussion. So it was in summer 2013. At that time the board said yes to cameras and other measures.
The cameras, well, they still aren’t all in. The wiring isn’t even in place for many. The district has more than 80 cameras and wants to triple that number.
Safety was an issue in 2010 as well. A gate at Viking Way was talked about, but never came to fruition. Cameras were also part of the discussion then.
What the board decided to do on Tuesday was allow staff to come up with plans, and to have community meetings to gather input from the public, students and staff. In other words, more talk and no action.
The latest impetus to do more was prompted by last month’s deadly school shooting in Florida.
Shelby Lyon, South Tahoe High School’s rep on the board, articulated her peers’ opinions, saying they don’t want a fence – that now is the time to build bridges, not fences. She presented the district with a petition signed by students regarding their stance against a fence.
STHS teacher Eric Beavers said, “Fences are not going to bring our community together. I think we put up fences and gates because we don’t know what else to do.”
District staff admitted fencing in STHS would be a difficult endeavor. This is the most difficult school to secure because of all the buildings, therefore points of entry.
Staff is contemplating reinforcing windows so they wouldn’t be easy to shoot through, having entrances more secure so it would be near impossible to get to where students are assembled, and installing cameras in hallways so an intruder would be tracked more easily. These measures could be for all schools. There was also talk of installing panic buttons in classrooms and/or front offices that would link to law enforcement. Having more modes of communication was broached.
“We are also recommending a school resource officer at the middle school. We need it for cannabis, and safety and security,” Superintendent Jim Tarwater said.
He said that person can carry the gun, but does not want teachers to be armed.
Tarwater also wants a social worker for K-3.
Creating a threat assessment management team is another idea. Members would include law enforcement, probation, mental health and others. After all, even when someone is expelled from school, they are still in the community and can be a threat.
I’m hoping that this Board will work to get our schools back into the norm of safety for our students and our staff. School safety is not about “stuff”, although it’s a nice plus, but it’s about people and programs which help to develop inclusive schools which support all creating safe environments. It’s about creating safe school plans where everyone knows what to do whether it’s an intruder, an earthquake, a flood, major storm, suicide, anything. It’s a plan that all parents are aware of procedures and that all procedures are consistent from site to site so that school incident management teams could be dispatched to assist at another site at a moment’s notice. It’s prevention education for drugs and violence and its a plan that concerns itself with the mental health of all. This is a not something that costs loads of money but it is a plan which takes people to make it happen. Our district already has the majority of people needed; it’s staff. We need to get back to what our district had nine years ago and before. It needs to be a norm for our schools and our district administration. Prevention is always the least expensive and most beneficial avenue to take. You don’t drop it because “things are good”. Things become good because you are making them so.
I agree with Lisa Huard. She was quite polite in her remarks. I have two of my children who are teachers and coaches, two children ate students and a niece and grand daughter. I also sub part time. I believe mrs Huard is referring tI when we had armed officers at our schools with the police car pared where potential attackers could imagine their own pain or demise. I think Dr Tarwater idea is a good step in that direction. I personally would like to see volunteers trained to add to the protection. of course we need to have training for teachers and our precious children as well as training in spotting and helping those who show signs of having mental issues. My father was a minister but along with Christian love and compassion for others he taught me to protect myself and my family. That is the life experience that I’ve seen work in such situations.
I need to add a small amount more. First almost to a person the shooters were bullied as kids so increased education and yes even punishment for those who bully online or in person should be implemented. finally I believe every measure that protects our kids should be implemented. I have been arm robbed three times and I do not even one of our kids hurt or traumatized because we were politically correct.