Expectations vs Applications

There are many lessons from the recent domestic violence related tragedy in a San Bernardino classroom and we can see the District has taken swift action by initiating much more stringent campus visitor policies.

We congratulate the school board for taking swift action, however, what SBUSD, as well as every School Board across the country must keep in mind is that the expectation of written policy is only as good as the application of that policy at the school site level.

The key to sustainability of all safety related policies is compliance with the letter and spirit of California law regarding Comprehensive Safe School Plans. This law was designed assure an annual stake holder assessments of factors known to impact campus safety, including rules related to visitors on campus.

Many schools say that they are in compliance with the law but we have found that is simply not true. This is not to say parents are being intentionally mislead, it is simply pointing out that the structure that once existed to adequately train and audit for compliance is gone.

The first step in assuring campus safety is assuring compliance with this important law. As a parent, your school is already telling you they are compliant and they most likely are not. If you are a Principal responsible for your school's plan are you sure you are in compliance? Not in compliance with what your District expects, but with what the law requires? if you as a parent or Principal would like to get a second opinion, an expert opinion, please call us for a free compliance assessment.