Dr. Garcia on School Safety: More Officers? Banning Phones?

So, a couple of my takeaways from the interview we had with Dr. Garcia on Tuesday. Which, by the way, if you didn't hear it, the audio is available on our website or Facebook page.

The total levy is going to be 5 million dollars and will be forever, no timeframe on this one. One of my main concerns was that only 15% of the money actually goes towards infrastructure upgrades: door locks, new fire alarms, and intercom systems.

The other 85% will go for new employees for the district, which includes new nurses, counselors, mental health specialists, gang prevention specialists, and finally 4 new school resource officers. Dr. Garcia made the point that we have to mold these kids into respecting each other and changing the bullying posture of these students if we ever want to get a handle on this. Absolutely, BUT that could take 20 years to change a whole new generation, so how do we protect these kids in the interim? That's the thing on most parents' minds right now.

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I don't have skin in the game but immediate needs require more school resource officers, which was even recommended in the security study. There is no all-right answer to this serious problem but securing the premise you think would be the top priority.

I even brought up the complete banning of cell phones in schools, which is the root of a lot of these problems, and he said he would not be opposed to that so pressure your school board members. Every little bit helps...