School safety is not something we do in addition to education.   Safety comes first, then education.   Safety empowers.  Safety does not induce fear.   

I am not an alarmist about natural or man made threats.   I am just determined that education must thrive in safety.   I believe in creative self-reliance.   

School officials, students and parents must be trained to know what to do before and after first responders arrive. Fear comes from being uncertain.   

Knowledge empowers, ignorance breeds fear.  Pretending threats are not real is denial.   Does anyone really think the kids do not know about natural and man made threats?   Denial is what disempowers children and adults with fear.   

I.    Campus Safety and Security:   

Keeping Students, Teachers, School Employees, Parents and Public Safe

LBUSD Must Acquire State of the Art:

  • Strategic Natural and Man Made Threat and Incident Management Program
  • Current Focus on Physical Barriers Not Sufficient
  • Intensive Education and Training Needed on Strategic and Tactical Defensive Capacity Building
  • Human Response More Important than Physical Barriers and Restraints 
  • Professionally Engineered Security Training Program Imperative
  •  Security is a Primary Not Ancillary Duty of Staff
  • Local Police and Emergency Response  is a Contingency Until Realized
  • School Must Have Self-Contained Response Independent Of First Responders

II.   A Vision for A Legacy of Democratic School Governance:

Howard Hills Vision for Revival of Traditional American Civics in Public School Governance

  • Our School Board must sponsor establishment of a local public school governance institute to educate and train School Board Members, Senior Staff, teachers, students, current parents, future parents, community on American civics and local control in public school education
  • Establish a constitution based student government and civic literacy program for grades 5-12 to teach American civics, due process, equal protection, rules of order in public deliberations, rights of the individual and majority rights in the public commons, freedom of ideas and conscience, value of dissent, civil disobedience, rule of law.