Stockton Unified disputes some claims of lack of safety in grand jury report
STOCKTON — The Stockton Unified School District is disputing some claims of a lack of safety from a grand jury report published three months ago but says they are taking their own steps to fix problems within their schools.
Parents in Stockton have been sounding alarms for a long time.
"What do we have to wait for?" Yulena Campos asked. "For a homeless person to come on campus and stab one of our kids like they did at the other school last year?"
Campos talked to CBS13 when a homeless man made it onto the campus of McKinley Elementary School.
"We are going to be pushing forward to make sure we have more security, but we are concerned because we don't see many police around."
A grand jury report published three months ago alleged a patchwork approach to school safety within Stockton Unified, something the district says will change.
"If we think about our number one priority, it is the safety of our students and that when they come to school, they feel not only physically safe but also psychologically safe," said Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, district superintendent.
The report alleges out-of-compliance safety plans — plans that didn't assess the needs of disabled students — and a lack of meaningful discussion between staff and students regarding safety.
Those are things that Public Safety Chief Mayra Franco told parents are changing.
"Ensuring that we do training exercises and drills. We can't prevent everything in the future but prepare and respond to any of those threats," Franco said.
That includes possible infrastructure changes in the future.
"Everything from a buzzer system to more fencing to keep more areas of access under control," Franco said.
Situations ranging from a stabbing on campus in 2022 to fights at schools have district parents just hoping for something to get better.
"I don't want it to come to that," Campos said. "I don't want to get the call and say your kids got stabbed or your neighbor's kids got stabbed."
Of the 28 claims and recommendations made by the grand jury report, Stockton Unified responded that they partially or fully disagreed with 26 of them.
