In the aftermath of a stabbing, a suicide and complaints of bullying involving students in the Coronado Unified School District, Superintendent Karl Mueller said the district plans to crack down on the use of phones and social media at local campuses.
Mueller’s disclosure – which came during an Oct. 30 public forum on school safety, student discipline and emergency response protocols – was met with applause from a crowd of about 100 district parents, staffers, students and community members who attended the event.
Mueller said the governing board will make “very difficult decisions about the role of cell phones on all four of our campuses” beyond cell phone pockets used during instructional time.
“We spend a lot of time as administrators monitoring and disciplining students for behaviors and activities that occur online on these devices that we didn’t purchase for our students,” said Mueller. “It’s very challenging for us when something that’s occurring on social media shows up onto our campus, and now we are the party responsible for intervening and correcting that behavior. We’re sorting through some of the issues that came out of inappropriate posts, texts, photos.”
Mueller did not say what changes will be made in the district’s policy or how it will be enforced.
“Every time we discuss limiting cell phone use on our campuses, we receive parent pushback,” Mueller added. “We understand that some of that comes from, ‘I want to be able to contact my child if there is an emergency.’ So we need to collectively discuss this topic … There is absolutely an appetite by our government board to take a critical look at our existing cell phone policies and to make changes because what’s happening right now is unsustainable.”
In partnership with the Coronado Police Department, Safe Harbor Coronado and the National Conflict Resolution Center, the district hosted a safety and communication community forum at the Coronado Performing Arts Center at the high school campus. This forum was in response to a stabbing incident that took place at the middle school.
In addition to phone policy changes, Mueller said the district will now use text messaging during emergencies to improve communication with parents.
The district will also begin hosting parent and community circles with the support of Safe Harbor and the National Conflict and Resolution Center. Other planned initiatives include bystander intervention training, increased school lunch supervision and review of the existing discipline action guide.
“Unfortunately, we’re living in a world where we can’t make 100% assurances, but our responsibility is to do everything that we can to protect the physical and emotional safety of your students while they’re in our care,” said Mueller.
The district’s steps seemed to be well received by parents in the audience.
“I appreciated their self-reflection,” said Theresa Jones, a Coronado resident and parent who attended the forum for the safety of her child. “It was good to see these conversations are happening.”
Police and district outline incident
The district’s forum and announcements come in the wake of a stabbing incident at Coronado Middle School in October, and the suicide of another student from the same school after he allegedly had been a victim of bullying
On Oct. 14 the Coronado Police Department responded to an incident at approximately 10:20 a.m. involving two seventh grade students at Coronado Middle School. A police report says a male student stabbed a female student twice with a pocketknife, including once in the right shoulder blade, during a class break.
The victim was transported to Rady Children’s Hospital by Coronado Fire Department Paramedics and, according to the school district, was recovering at home on Oct. 16. The suspect was arrested and transported to San Diego Juvenile Hall. The report says the student was taken into custody with charges of attempted murder and assault.
The department said it cannot release information about the investigation of the incident due to the victims’ being underage and other state statutes.
“The confidential nature of police investigative files continues in effect after an investigation is concluded,” said the department about a report redacting the investigation. “Accordingly, those parts of the police investigative files… are being withheld.”
According to Mueller, there had been a separate fight in the school’s quad prior to the stabbing and parents of the students involved in this incident were notified.
Mueller said shortly thereafter the stabbing occurred inside the library where three staff members were present.
“Law enforcement was called immediately and arrived on the scene within three minutes,” said Mueller on Oct. 30. “The parents of the two students involved were also contacted immediately. A communication was sent and in hindsight, based off of feedback from many of you, that should have been in a text message rather an email.”
The Coronado Police department posted incident bulletins on social media, he added, advising that there was no active threat and that the school was not on lockdown.
The unrelated suicide in April occurred at the the home of 13-year-old Gabriel Palacios, who took his own life after multiple school problems. In a subsequent lawsuit against the district, the boy’s parents alleged that Gabriel had inadvertently posted a naked image of himself on social media. By the time it had been taken down, they alleged, other students had copied and shared it triggering an onslaught of bullying and disciplinary conflicts. Their civil suit, which alleges that the school district failed to protect Gabriel, is pending, and CUSD officials did not discuss it during the forum.
Safety, communications and prevention
Police Chief Paul Connelly said his department immediately responds to school emergency calls, locates and neutralizes threats, makes sure that students are safe, protects crime scenes and initiates an investigation.
According to Connelly, an active shooter, violent intruder, reports of a weapon on campus, a hostage situation, or other specific and credible threats could result in a school lockdown.
Mueller said the school board approved safety improvements after CUSD went through an audit with a third party external organization, School Safety Operations.
Changes identified include improved security at school entrances, new locks and fencing, and radios for classrooms.
Mueller said the district uses Raptor, an identification management technology system that screens visitors. It also uses Lightspeed, which digitally monitors students’ online activity while they’re on the district’s Internet server.
Niamh Foley, director of student services, said CUSD also has WeTip for anyone in the community to anonymously report suspicious activity.
“It provides us an extra layer of support,” said Foley, adding that the district shares information with the Coronado Police Department.
According to Foley, the district receives more than 200 WeTip reports of which 40% are related to bullying behavior reported by students.
Mueller also encouraged parents to review the district’s discipline action guide.
“Our behavior expectations are outlined,” said Mueller. “Please support us as we support you, as partners, and help reinforce what those expectations are when they’re on school campuses … and when they’re out in the community.”
The panel encouraged the audience to attend a presentation titled “Connect with your Teen from Middle School & UP” with Safe Harbor Coronado and guest speaker Jennifer Kolari on Nov. 17 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Coronado Performing Arts Center.
“It is imperative that everyone in the room this evening shares (WeTip) with members of the community that may not be here,” added Mueller. “Being proactive and getting that information to us prior to an incident is really what’s going to support our efforts in prevention.”
