HUSD Superintendent Responds to Student Safety

In a recent Patch article, 19.6 percent of 11th graders in the Hayward Unified School District felt unsafe or very unsafe at school, according to a 2010 survey of students statewide.  HUSD’s superintendent, Stanley “Data” Dobbs, responded to this data in a recent press release saying that the school district has focused on making changes to ensure HUSD gives students a safe learning and teaching environment.

HUSD has been accomplishing this goal by establishing partnerships to generate safety improvements. Such as:

• HUSD has a strong relationship with the Hayward Police Department. HUSD has School Resource Officers assigned to all middle and high school sites giving schools an extra layer of security.

• HUSD, Chabot and HPD have formed a partnership to provide regular training for all Campus Security Supervisors — they are assigned to each middle and high school to promote safety support services.  Trainings are mandatory and held monthly at Chabot College. The Campus Supervisor training is in its third year, and is growing to include other districts and educational agencies.

• Safety incidents have dropped over the last few years. Referrals and expulsions decreased by 37 percent between 2008-2009 to 2011-2012 school years. This decrease shows a downward trend in discipline cases, which has improved students’ feelings of safety.

• Staff has worked on several initiatives to improve the climate at each site.  These initiatives include the introduction of a Restorative Justice concept at the secondary sites in the 2012-2013 school year with a full launch in 2013-14. The concept of Restorative Justice provides a proactive venue to strengthen the relationship between students, parents and staff to move the climate conversations and misunderstandings from punitive to restorative resolutions.

• HUSD has improved the agreement of discipline practices and increased student support services. By improving the climate, building a sense of community and being clear about expectations — students will feel safe on campus.

• HUSD has installed approximately 1,300 security cameras with 24-hours per day surveillance through bond Measure I. These cameras help staff in securing school sites and ensuring a safe environment.