“It’s my worst nightmare. It terrifies me. When I drop them off, I say a prayer in my head that they are safe. I hate that this is the world we live in.” – Katrina Gallegos, Indio mother of two.
Columbine. Sandy Hook. Parkland. It’s a distinction no town wants to have – the site of a mass shooting carried out at a school. The prevalence is not just a matter of more media coverage. Statistics show that school gun violence – that is the use or wielding of a gun on a K-12 campus – really is getting much worse. There have been 94 incidents this year alone, according to the database maintained by the Naval Postgraduate School‘s Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS). There have been 55 people killed, including some of the shooters. 2018 has been the most violent year for schools by far, both in number of incidents and the death toll, since the CHDS began keeping records in 1970. The second deadliest year was 1992, which saw 40 deaths. California, Texas and Florida (three of the most populous states) notched the highest number of on-campus gun incidents.
The numbers track with overall gun violence. According to gunviolencearchive.org, the US has seen more than 330 mass shootings this year in which four or more people died, not including the shooter. The US lost more than 13,600 people to gun violence as of early December, and 26,000 were injured. In the first 11 months of 2018, 627 American kids under age 11 and more than 2,600 teenagers have been shot and injured or killed. These numbers do not include the more than 22,000 suicides reported so far this year.
No major violent incidents have struck Coachella Valley schools in recent years – and local school districts are working hard to make sure campuses remain a safe haven.
At Desert Sands Unified School District (DSUSD), seven school resource officers (RSOs) are contracted with Indio Police Department and Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and are stationed at the high schools and middle schools. They also respond to incidents at the elementary schools within close proximity to their assigned high and middle schools. The district has 44 full-time security agents on 24-hour assignments throughout the district.
DSUSD is increasing the frequency of active shooter drills and maintains two systems, one anonymous and one not – where people can report suspicious behavior or concerns they may have about a student. The anonymous reporting system is called PSST World and can be found on the district website. If a student threatens to bring a gun to school, police automatically seek a search warrant for the person’s home.
That’s exactly what happened October 29th in Yucca Valley. A 15-year-old boy threatened to bring a gun to Yucca Valley High School. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies, activating the Kids With Guns protocol, found 2,000 rounds of ammunition, two 22 caliber rifles, a 12 gauge shotgun and a .357 magnum handgun, all belonging to his parents but left unsecured. And the same thing happened in February when a 16-year-old threatened to shoot up Yucca Valley High School. He was arrested after deputies found two firearms at his home.
In March 2017, police arrested an Indio High School student for possession of ammunition on campus.
Sometimes the threat of an active shooter turns out to be a hoax. That was the case on October 26th of this year – when someone in Texas sent out a text threatening to shoot up three local high schools – Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Coachella Valley High School. In that case, police determined that the threat was not credible, so they did not recommend a lockdown.
In 2013 the Federal Emergency Management Agency released a guide for schools on developing high-quality school emergency operations plans. There are no stats publicly available on the number of lockdowns at local schools.
Mary Perry, public information officer with DSUSD, explains that what most think of as a lockdown – are actually lockouts – happen when police are chasing an armed suspect in the area. Principals will order all entry points to a school locked, and not permit anyone to go in or out. However, classes continue as normal. Often these lockouts last fifteen minutes or less and are over so quickly that parents may not be notified.
Lockdowns, however, are very rare and occur if there is an actual threat on campus.
According to Perry, “A lockdown is where there is the possibility of someone being on campus with the idea to cause damage, pain or some kind of mayhem. And so if there’s any chance of that, we go into lockdown. And that’s where the children are inside the classroom, with the doors locked, sitting on the floor, out of sight of the window, as quiet as possible.”
In the past, some local schools had a mechanism that allowed teachers to lock their classroom from the inside. But they are being removed at the request of the fire department because the devices could potentially trap people inside in the event of a blaze.
Joan Boiko with Palm Springs Unified School District says each of their high schools has a paid police officer on campus. The district employs 11 full time security officers and 8 part timers, and 8 district patrol officers.
A security update recently provided to the school board shows that staff at the high schools have just completed training on the H.E.R.O. program, which stands for hide, escape, run and overcome, and will commence training the students. Elementary and middle school staff have gotten refresher training.
PSUSD is implementing the Raptor system, which provides uniform procedures for screening visitors and volunteers, and for coordinating with emergency responders, according to their website. The district has almost 800 security cameras in place.
Carissa Carrera is President of Coachella Valley Teachers Association – a chapter of the California Teachers Association that represents 9,000 teachers in CVUSD.
She praises the district for holding a professional development day on October 8th dedicated to school safety plans, lockdown procedures and school shooter training. The District has also just trained about 50 staff in the A.L.I.C.E. school shooter safety program, which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. Those employees will go on to train people at their school sites. Teachers are taught to lock the classroom, make a quick sweep, get all kids inside, shelter in a place away from windows and doors, and wait for the all clear.
Carrera says she is against the idea of arming teachers, saying “Teachers are here to do our jobs, which is to instruct the kids. Safety needs to be handled by our security department. Teachers will protect the kids, but arming teachers is not the way to do it. That is completely unrealistic. If we arm teachers, we are introducing weapons on campus and that increases the danger.”
According to Carrera, CVUSD used to have school resource officers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on campus, but the school district ended the contract. Despite the lack of resource officers, Carrera says that CVUSD’s child welfare and attendance department is taking steps in the right direction and is currently working with several different departments to create a crisis intervention plan. She adds that mental health issues need more attention, and says the district has counselors in the middle and high schools but not at the elementary level.
Stacey Austin is a Community Service Officer with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department who gives training sessions to local businesses on active shooter situations. She explains the “Run Hide Fight” method, developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Austin recommends that wherever you go, you should scan the area to identify the nearest exit. That way, you can run if you hear shots being fired, or if you are warned of an active shooter.
However, if you can’t run, or would be obliged to run toward the gunfire to get out, Austin says you want to barricade yourself inside a room and put something over the glass so no one can see in. Put furniture in front of the door if it opens inward. If the door opens outward, get a bungee cord or a belt to make sure it can’t be opened. Lastly, hide somewhere away from the entrance to the door in a duck-and-cover position.
Officer Austin says, “Fight is your very last alternative. You don’t want to go that route unless it is absolutely essential, the person is right there face-to-face, and you have no other choice. If you’re too far away and you try to charge the person you’re probably not going to make it.” She also says if the person is about to get into the room – it’s time to start throwing heavy objects like chairs or fire extinguishers at the assailant.
One local educator, who we’ll call Mrs. Smith to protect identity, tells CV Kids that during an active shooter drill, teachers are given specific instructions on how to proceed. She says teachers need to train kids to remain calm in an active shooter situation – to be able to withstand loud noises like gunshots; to hide and not yell, cry, giggle or make a peep. According to Mrs. Smith, “Now we have lockdowns and windows have to be covered and lights have to be off. You have to go around and bang on doors and windows to startle children so that they can remain quiet so that they can remain safe. We know from experts that you want nothing to draw any attention. You want your building to appear empty, abandoned.”
Smith recalls an incident where one boy didn’t want to follow instructions and go outside during a fire drill, fearing that a shooter had pulled the fire alarm to draw victims out into the open. She laments that rising gun violence has teachers worrying about becoming targets, adding, “In previous generations when all of us were deciding to become teachers, we never had to think about, ‘would I be willing to give my life for my class?’”
Smith believes that society needs to make more mental health services available to children. She wants to see a dedicated counselor at all elementary schools, and recommends a ratio of no more than 300 students per counselor at every middle and high school.
Experts say there are signs, red flags to look for, in order to get a troubled child help, before he or she resorts to violence. Students, parents and teachers are encouraged to get help for any student who spends a lot of time alone, has trouble making friends, may be socially awkward, and who may have a preoccupation with guns, ammunition, or knives.
People are advised to call authorities if someone makes threatening statements in person or on social media, especially things like “You guys will see” or “You’re going to pay.”
Smith advises, “When you see something, say something. People really need to listen to other kids when they come forward because they are our greatest source of information. School authorities can’t be everywhere. If there is early intervention, a troubled child has a better chance to heal, and become a better version of him or herself.”
